The Power of Five!
by TacMaster8
Summary: Izuku was devastated to learn he was quirkless. But when five people, including his own mother, are killed during a hero-villain fight, he breathes in an experimental chemical and gains their five quirks: Sacrifice, Glow-in-the-Dark, Attraction, Reject, and Empathy. Follow an empowered Izuku and the rest of Class 1-A as they deal with an increasingly violent world. (Manga spoilers)
1. Chapter 1: Origin Stories

**Chapter 1: Origin Stories**

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Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia

Enjoy!

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-]-[-

For a while, everything was going as usual.

It was a brisk afternoon, and a few pedestrians lined the streets, going about their daily life. But Endeavor took no notice of them, instead focusing all his attention on the worn-down warehouse ten stories below him.

A voice spoke through his ear-mounted radio:

"Any sign of Psychokiller?"

"Negative, Tsukauchi," he answered, sighing. "If anything happens, you'll be the first to know."

He shivered. It wasn't because of the cold— his quirk, Hellflame, allowed him to subconsciously keep his body warm in any weather condition.

Endeavor was shivering because he was anxious. Along with the police, the Number Two Hero had been tracking down the villain Psychokiller for months as part of a larger operation targeting Japan's largest crime syndicate. The metropolitan police believed that Psychokiller had been supplying the syndicate with various chemicals and drugs. With the money he made from brokering, Psychokiller had managed to pay off the right people and elude the pro-hero and the police.

 _Until now_.

From an adjacent rooftop, Endeavor was staking out the supposed location of Psychokiller's base. It didn't look like much— it was a derelict old warehouse that took up half a city block.

Endeavor didn't like reconnaissance one bit. He'd rather break into the warehouse and immediately take out the enemy, but, as the police told him, they needed to observe Psychokiller if they wanted to catch the man on the other end of the transaction.

 _Villains like Psychokiller shouldn't be allowed to roam free,_ Endeavor thought.

In his debut as a villain, Psychokiller had stabbed three people in broad daylight and left all the onlookers permanently brain-dead. The man had the power to put his victims into a coma after maintaining eye-contact for six seconds, and so he was considered by the police to be an extremely high-level threat. But now, the police were content with following him and letting him roam free.

It just didn't sit right with Endeavor.

 _This man needs to be put into his place. Justice needs to be swift and resolute._

His train of thought was interrupted when one of the warehouse's bay doors creaked open. A lone truck came out. Its trailer held some sort of cylindrical gas tank, and a man sat in the driver's seat with one arm on the wheel.

The man had short, blonde hair and large, pronounced cheekbones. There was no mistaking him.

"Psychokiller," Endeavor growled. To the untrained eye, the villain could easily be mistaken as a normal truck driver, but Endeavor had studied enough crime scene footage to recognise the man's face and build.

"Is he there?" asked Tsukauchi.

"Affirmative. He's heading North in a tanker truck."

"Follow him, but do _not_ engage until we say so."

The flame hero stayed silent as he started to run across the rooftop after the truck. When he got to the end of the roof, he leaped for the next one, firing flame jets through his legs to slow his descent. He repeated this process for a few more blocks until Psychokiller's truck stopped at an intersection. A few civilians ambled across the road, unaware of the monster that was watching them.

Endeavor's blood went cold.

There was Psychokiller, within his grasp, _among civilians_. If the man decided to look at any one of them for too long, he would be able to effectively kill that person, and nobody would be any wiser.

Gritting his teeth, Endeavor ripped the communication device from his ear and dropped it to the ground.

"Endeavor?" Tsukauchi called out. "Endeavor!"

 _We're doing it my way. This man cannot be allowed to roam free any longer._

He leaped from the top of his building and quickly glided down, landing on softly on the roof of Psychokiller's truck. The villain looked up through his window, surprised.

"Psychokiller. Close your eyes and surrender now. Nobody needs to be hurt."

A maniacal smile started to widen on the villain's face. Endeavor realized he had been staring at the man for too long and he quickly shut his eyes before the villain could use his power.

"No."

Endeavor heard a bang and suddenly felt a searing pain in his left shoulder. Eyes still closed, he fell to the ground, stunned.

Psychokiller returned the pistol to his jacket pocket and stepped on the gas, ignoring the crossing pedestrians. Clutching his shoulder, Endeavor gave chase, shooting a fireball at the truck. A tire went out, and the truck rolled over onto the sidewalk, scattering the onlookers.

"Endeavor!" the villain shouted, stumbling out of the tractor. "I'm not dying until I take some of you down with me!"

The flame hero prepared another fireball while Psychokiller cocked his pistol.

 _BANG._

This time, the bullet hit the hero's right shoulder and the fireball hit the tank of the truck, which promptly exploded.

-]-[-

 _Quirkless_.

The word went through four year-old Izuku's mind again and again as he followed his mother out of the doctor's office. Before today, Izuku was certain he'd have superpowers. After all, _everyone_ had them. Even his mother. Even his father.

He suddenly stopped.

"Mom?" he called out. His mother stopped and turned around.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Can I still be a hero?"

It was the question that Inko Midoriya was expecting, and it was a question she did not want to answer. The truth was, quirkless people simply _could not_ become heroes. There was too much danger in the job. A powerless person wouldn't survive for long fighting against villains and natural disasters.

"I don't know, honey." She sighed. "Come on. Let's get you home."

Inko continued walking, but her son remained rooted to the spot.

"Mom?"

"What's the matter?" Inko turned around, crossing her arms.

"Look out."

Hearing screams, Inko looked up just in time to see the tanker truck barrel into the sidewalk. It slid closer to the mother-son pair, scattering pedestrians. Some screamed and ran, while others stood still with shock. The once-calm sidewalk had quickly dissolved into chaos.

As she swooped down to pick up her son, Inko noticed something bright in the corner of her eye. Her ingrained maternal instincts kicked in, and she tackled her son, sheltering the whimpering boy with her body.

"Izuku, be brave."

Those were her last words to her son before they were consumed by the explosion.

-]-[-

Knocked back by the force of the blast, Psychokiller groggily rose to his feet.

 _That explosion had to have killed some people,_ he thought. _And it's all Endeavor's fault!_

He giggled at the thought.

 _Ironic. Sometimes, 'heroes' are more dangerous than villains._

His thoughts shifted to the contents of his truck's gas tank, and his spirits fell. The heavy gas was concentrated around the crash site, but it had started to diffuse throughout the street.

 _Boss is going to kill me for this_.

He noticed a few onlookers, frozen in shock.

"Is that... Psychokiller?" one asked, trembling.

 _Oh well. If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well have some fun_.

"Anyone wanna have a staring contest?" he asked.

"Mommy?" a voice called out.

Psychokiller felt his ankle brush against something. He looked down. It was the burnt corpse of a woman, no doubt killed by the explosion. But when he looked closer, he noticed something in the woman's arms. It was a small boy with green hair. The boy looked severely burned, but he was looking back up at the villain inquisitively.

Psychokiller grinned. Someone to use his quirk on.

"Ooh, look who _mommy_ saved from the fire." He crouched down. "Look at me."

"Don't hurt her," was all the boy said.

"Idiot." He kicked aside the woman's body. "Mommy is already dead."

"No!" Izuku wailed. Eyes stinging from the mysterious gas, he blinked a few times, cancelling the effect of the villain's power.

"Come on," the villain growled, leaning closer to the boy and gritting his teeth. "I need you to keep your eyes open."

As he reached for Izuku's face, the boy grabbed the man's wrist, eyes burning.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Huh?" Psychokiller felt his body suddenly go weak. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

But Izuku held on, and Psychokiller slowly felt pain creep through his arm.

"You're scared, aren't you?" the boy asked in a sudden rush of understanding. "And I'm feeling better now."

Psychokiller could not say a word as the searing pain continued to creep up his arm. The heavy burns on Izuku's body started to fade as the villain's skin started to bubble.

" _What the hell!_ "

After a minute of torture, Psychokiller collapsed onto the ground next to Izuku.

-]-[-

"Dammit!"

The moment Endeavor's comms went dark, Tsukauchi left the nearby police van and ran for the flame hero's last known location. He knew Endeavor had a history of uncooperativeness, but _this_ was far beyond what the detective had imagined.

When he heard screams followed by an explosion, Tsukauchi had roughly pieced together what was going on.

 _If Endeavor is fighting Psychokiller in broad daylight, people will surely die._

Tsukauchi rounded a corner and his eyes were met with something out of an apocalyptic hellscape:

People were running in every direction. A thin, black haze spread over the street, drifting away from the scattered remains of the overturned tanker. Endeavor was leaning against an overturned car, bleeding from a few gunshot wounds. The immediate area around the tanker was scorched black, and Tsukauchi noticed a few charred bodies.

And in the middle of it all stood a whimpering young toddler with dark green hair.

There was not a mark on his body.

-]-[-

 _24 hours later..._

Crouched into a ball, Toshinori Yagi, a man more commonly known as All Might, soared over Japan's urbanised landscape. Entire neighborhoods flashed by. When he finally noticed his target on the horizon, the No.1 hero fired a well-aimed punch into the air above him and rocketed towards the ground, landing safely behind the UA gate.

He strode into the main building, drawing many astonished looks. As the Number One hero, All Might's reputation preceeded him. He keenly noticed a few similarities and differences in the building's architecture since his time as a student.

It had been over twenty years.

 _Unfortunate that I'm returning under such somber circumstances_ , he thought.

He stepped into an elevator, pressing a button labeled "basement," and waited as the capsule led him deep into the bedrock under the school. The basement of UA almost never needed to be used. There were no classrooms or teachers' lounges down here. In fact, there was only one room of importance.

The elevator doors opened, and All Might stepped through, reading a sign hanging from the hallway ceiling:

PANIC ROOM

At the other end of the hall were Principal Nezu, Endeavor, Tsukauchi, and Recovery Girl. They all turned to face All Might as he walked towards them. Endeavor stared straight at the ground.

"I'm here." All Might lacked the usual enthusiasm behind his catchphrase. He was emotionally drained after reading the report of the 'incident.' He could only imagine how Endeavor and Tsukauchi felt. They were there to witness it in person.

"Toshinori," called out Recovery Girl. "Good to see you again."

All Might nodded.

"I just finished chewing out Enji. I was telling him that the five civilian deaths were completely his fault, including the death of this boy's mother."

She gestured through a pane of one-way glass and into the Panic Room, where Izuku Midoriya sat, surrounded by toys.

"Not to mention, twelve more people were injured. I even considered refusing to heal your wounds, in order to teach you a lesson."

Endeavor remained quiet and simply stared at the floor.

"Anything to add, Toshinori?"

"The HPSC is considering revoking your heroics license," All Might added. "But the media is painting you as a hero who bravely fought off a dangerous villain. Us insiders have been ordered to keep all info under wrap so the Police Department and the Hero Association can save face. No offence to you, Tsukauchi."

"None taken," answered the officer. His face was gaunt. He had just witnessed a tragedy.

Endeavor spoke up: "I have no excuses, and I understand I'm getting off too easily. I will need to take some time to reevaluate myself and my life choices."

All Might nodded, impressed at his colleague's unusual bout of humbleness.

"Understood. But if your ego causes any more unneeded deaths, I'll hunt you down like a villain."

Endeavor looked up at All Might. The fire in Endeavor's eyes had calmed. It was like he was a completely different man.

"I would deserve no less, All Might."

All Might nodded. He made eye-contact with Tsukauchi, who shrugged. Before the 'incident,' Endeavor had been relentless in his pursuit of the Number One Hero position. He was standoffish, thinking of himself above all others. Maybe the explosion had knocked him too hard on the head, or maybe the flame hero was starting to feel remorse for his foolish actions. Either way, the entire demeanor of the once-proud man had changed. For the better.

"Okay," Principal Nezu started. "Now that we have _that_ business out of the way, I'll show you why I brought you all here."

"Why _are_ we down here?" asked All Might. "Wouldn't the Principal's Office be a better place for a meeting?" He shuddered at the prospect of listening to Nezu's rambling over a cup of tea.

"We are here because of _him_." He pointed at the boy behind the one-way glass.

"Izuku Midoriya, aged four. This boy was closest to the site of the crash, and he lost his mother, who raised him alone before her untimely death."

Endeavor cringed.

"Hold on," began All Might. "If he was at the crash site, how is he not severely injured? There was an explosion, right?"

"Right," Nezu answered. "The media is saying that the explosion killed five civilians and the villain Psychokiller. But Psychokiller was spared by the explosion. We are covering up young Midoriya's involvement in all of this."

"What happened?"

Tsukauchi answered. "The boy killed Psychokiller, that's what happened. His medical files say he's quirkless, but he somehow fatally wounded the man while completely healing his own injuries."

"And that's why I brought you here," Nezu explained. "All Might, you've been a part of the All For One investigation for quite some time now. I'm sure you know that All For One has been experimenting with the transfer of quirks. The truck that Endeavor destroyed contained a chemical gas that we believe was used in one of his experiments. The gas has dispersed, but Izuku Midoriya breathed a lot of it in. And something happened."

He continued: "Remember how I said five people died in the explosion?" The others nodded. Nezu held up a medical file with a picture of a silver-haired woman. "Well, one of those five had the quirk Sacrifice, which allowed her to heal others by draining her own life force. Sacrifice has another, darker aspect, which allowed her to do the opposite, to heal herself by draining another's life force."

"And that's what young Midoriya did to Psychokiller," Recovery Girl added. "We believe he somehow inherited this woman's quirk."

"Hold on," Endeavor began. "If he could gain her power when she died, does that mean…"

"Yes. Izuku Midoriya has inherited five quirks. One from each person who died in the explosion."

All Might frowned thoughtfully as Endeavor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I'll show you."

Recovery Girl pressed a button on the wall and the lights in the panic room went dim.

"I've already explained Sacrifice. His second quirk is called Glow-In-The-Dark. The name is self-explanatory."

Sure enough, as the lights darkened, Midoriya's skin started to glow mint green, like a glowstick.

"The intensity of his glow depends on the level of darkness. Daylight does not trigger the quirk at all, and dim lighting only causes him to glow slightly. In pitch darkness, he shines as brightly as a 60-watt bulb. Strangely enough, the man who had it before Midoriya glew bright orange, while Midoriya glows green."

All Might nodded. _Its not at all practical, but it's a cool party trick! The boy might have trouble sleeping since he's a permanent nightlight. Not to mention anyone who might want to sleep_ _ **with**_ _him in the distant future…_

"The next quirk is slightly more interesting. Wait and watch." Recovery girl returned the lights to normal as five sets of eyes fixated on the boy.

Izuku made a grab for a toy train, but it was slightly out of reach. Rather than take the effort to get up, he stretched out his arm and willed it to come to him. The onlookers watched as the toy seemingly flew into the boy's outstretched hand.

"This is Attraction. It belonged to his mother, Inko, before she passed. Inko was able to attract small objects to her body, but she never really honed her power. Chances are, this boy could attract even larger objects if he wanted to use his quirk to the maximum potential."

Seemingly bored with the toy, he let go and sent it flying like a like a bullet across the room. The toy embedded itself in the far wall as Izuku continued to play.

"Ironically, Izuku's next quirk, Reject, is almost the exact opposite. In addition to attracting objects, he can propel them from his body. But, as we've learned from the previous owner, there's a limit. If he tries to propel too big of an object, his body will be damaged by recoil."

 _These two quirks will work very well together,_ All Might thought. He imagined the boy summoning a knife and launching it at the speed of a bullet. _But he's dangerous. We need to be careful._

His train of thought was interrupted by Tsukauchi. "That's the fourth quirk. What's his last power?"

"This last one is harder to show," Recovery Girl explained. "Here, let me demonstrate." She leaned back and slapped Endeavor across the face.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"Watch."

Izuku looked up from his toys, turning to the glass.

"Is someone out there?" he asked.

Endeavor turned to Recovery Girl. "Did he hear me shout?"

"No." She shook her head. "The room is soundproof. He _felt_ you."

She continued: "Midoriya's fifth and final quirk is called Empathy. The previous user could sense people's strong feelings. Like fear, or lust. In your case, it was pain. Very useful for social situations, but it might be used in combat as well."

"With all his powers, Midoriya would make an excellent pro hero," Nezu noted.

"But also a terrible villain. He has the potential to do great harm." All Might shuddered to think about fighting a villain who could read minds and transfer pain.

Sacrifice. Glow-In-The-Dark. Attraction. Reject. Empathy.

An impressive superpower arsenal.

"We will need to make sure he's properly train-"

"Nobody's going to be 'training' my boy."

The group turned to face a newcomer as he walked down the hall. The man was tall and lanky, dressed up in an immaculate navy blue suit. He had curly green hair, just like his son's, and he wore an expression of impatience, as if he had somewhere he needed to be.

"Hisashi," Recovery Girl began. "You made it."

"Damn right I did. I'm here to pick up my son." Hisashi Midoriya had left his family three years ago in favor of a high-paying foreign job. Even his own son had no idea who the man was.

Recovery Girl took out a bunch of papers. "Your son's condition is complicated…"

Hisashi listened as she explained Izuku's newfound powers.

"Understood. As if one quirk weren't enough to deal with..."

Nezu laughed out loud, but he stifled it when he realized the man was completely serious.

"Well, thank you." The man checked his watch. "Shit. I need to go now if I want to make the early flight back. Let me take Izuku..."

As Hisashi reached for the door to the Panic Room, All Might tried to intervene.

"Mr. Midoriya, it's imperative that Izuku learns how to properly manage his multiple quirks. I'm not kidding when I say he has the potential to destroy entire cities. He'll make a fine hero, though."

Hisashi brushed it off. "He'll be fine. Besides, there aren't any 'heroes' in America, and I don't think any son of mine will have what it takes to join the National Militia."

Nezu tried to help. "Mr. Midoriya, please reconsid-"

But the man had already opened the door to the Panic Room. All Might facepalmed. The little boy looked up from his toys and at the man.

"Izuku, do you remember me?"

"No."

"Well I'm your Daddy, and I'm here to take you home. How are you feeling?"

"You're stressed," was all the boy said. A vein bulged in Hisashi forehead.

"Come on." He picked up the boy, who dropped his toys. His son on his shoulder, Hisashi walked towards the door.

"Have you ever heard of a place called San Francisco? Well that's where we're going!"

As they left, Endeavor couldn't help but notice Izuku's confused expression.

 _A boy needs a strong father figure, especially after what just happened._ He shook his head.

"I guess that's all," Nezu said gloomily. "It's been a long day. How about we all head home?"

"Sure." Tsukauchi donned his fedora. "I will continue to pursue any new leads on the substance that gave Izuku his quirks."

All Might smiled weakly, no doubt because he was thinking of the boy and his impatient father. If Hisashi couldn't even stop for a conversation, how would he raise a four-year-old kid?

 _Speaking of father figures…_

The boy had reminded Endeavor of his own son, Shoto, who was around Izuku's age. Like Izuku, Shoto had the potential to become a great hero.

 _But am I pushing the boy too hard?_

Crushed by the guilt of the five civilian lives he ended, Endeavor was no longer as fixated on the Number One Hero position. Better to focus on the people around him than the goal ahead, he reasoned. Which made him feel guilty again when he remembered his wife and children at home.

 _I've neglected them, haven't I?_

When Shoto's quirk had manifested, he'd poured all of his attention on the boy, and not enough on the other people that mattered.

It was time to set things straight.

 _What kind of flowers did Rei say she liked, again? I'll get her some of those._

-]-[-

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 **That's Chapter 1! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **I'm working on my writing skills, so I'd really appreciate suggestions, praise, or constructive criticism in the form of a review.**

 **As for what to expect from this story in the future... I plan on updating fairly regularly (at least once a week) during the summer. I also fully intend on seeing this story to it's end (unless it completely bombs).**

 **If you enjoyed it, stick around! The best is yet to come!**


	2. Chapter 2: Golden State’s Golden Boy

**Chapter 2: Golden State's Golden Boy**

(Edited on 7/16 for formatting)

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-]-[-

 _Ten years later, late winter. In an arena in New York City…_

Bright lights shined down on the 16x16 foot boxing ring. The shouts from the audience members were deafening, but Izuku Midoriya blocked them out, along with their cluttered emotions. Instead, he focused on the boy facing him. His blue-haired opponent was built lean, like a distance runner, and he wore a confident smile on his face as he waved at the audience.

 _Pride, anticipation, confidence._

Marks of a true fighter. This would be a tough fight.

The announcer's voice blared over the cheering.

" **Welcome, everyone, to the final round of the middle-school National Quirk Duel TOURNAMENT!"**

Somehow, the ear-splitting noise grew even louder as the fans got riled up.

" **From Boston, Massachusetts, we have Connor O'Leary!"**

The stands behind Connor went crazy as the boy's family and friends cheered for for him.

" **In addition to holding a second-dan black belt and being an excellent Quirk Duelist, Connor is an upstanding citizen and an honors student at his Militia Academy. Connor's quirk, Blink, allows him to instantly teleport by blinking his eyes."**

 _Teleportation._ Midoriya had researched the boy when he learned that Connor would be his opponent in the finals. In his fight videos, Connor showed no apparent weaknesses. The boy could activate Blink in, well, a blink of an eye.

" **And facing Connor, from San Francisco California, I present you Izuku Midoriya!"**

Softer applause erupted from behind him. Izuku's Quirk Duel team rowdily cheered him on, but his father was notably absent, in a conference for his work. Since Izuku lived on the West coast, very few of his friends were there to cheer him on in person, but he knew they had been following his progress on TV.

" **Originally from Japan, Izuku Midoriya is a star student as well, and a tri-sport athlete! Along with Quirk Dueling, Izuku plays Football and Track. His quirk, Polar Control, lets him attract and repel objects as if they were magnets."**

To avoid public outcry, Izuku followed Recovery Girl's instructions to keep the true nature of his quirks a secret. "Polar Control" meant that he could use Attraction and Reject without anybody realizing they were actually separate quirks.

" **In addition to Polar Control, Izuku can glow in the dark, but his second quirk cannot be used in battle."**

Midoriya could hide Sacrifice and chalk off Empathy as abnormally sharp instincts, but there was no hiding the fact that he glowed bright green in darker lighting.

"Good luck," Midoriya called over to his opponent.

"I won't need it," Connor shouted back.

 _Edgy._

"I'm on the fast track to becoming a Special Operative in the Militia," Connor explained. "And nobody's defeated me yet. You see, I, unlike many in this day and age, have a greater purpose, to serve my country. Why do you fight, Izuku?"

Izuku remembered his Mom's final words. _Be brave_.

He shrugged. "I just want to bring home a win."

"Fair enough. Don't expect me to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

" **You all know the rules. Anything's fair game, so long as you don't fight to kill. Victory is achieved when your opponent submits, leaves the ring, or is unable to move."**

" **The match starts in:**

 **FIVE!**

 **FOUR!**

 **THREE!**

 **TWO!**

 **ONE!"**

As the buzzer sounded, Izuku furiously backpedaled, as he had rehearsed, but he felt a sharp blow crash into his temple. As he fell, he noticed Connor's emotional presence had simply... disappeared from the boy's starting spot before reappearing behind him.

 _A sneak kick attack!_

When Izuku felt Connor's presence shift again, he rolled over, narrowly avoiding another sharp kick. Connor had almost teleported faster than Izuku could act.

 _Almost. If I can get to the edge of the ring, I'll have my back covered._

Exposed in the middle of the arena, Izuku had no idea where his opponent would attack next. At this point, he could only dodge blindly when he sensed his opponent move. Empathy was useful for that. After ten years of reading the emotions of people around him, Izuku could use his quirk as a sixth sense.

But Connor still striked too quickly for Izuku to do anything but dodge.

When Izuku sensed Connor disappear again, he rolled towards the edge and grabbed the rope. But his opponent struck again, kicking Izuku's stomach before returning to the other side of the ring. Izuku was winded, and he thought he felt one of his ribs crack, but he was now backed against the edge.

 _This is good_. Now, Connor could only attack from the front.

The boy blinked right up to Izuku and sent another roundhouse kick, but Izuku was ready. With his left forearm, he blocked the kick while he pressed his right hand up against Connor's chest.

 _Reject!_

As Izuku was pushed back by the recoil from his power, he heard a satisfying crunch. Connor's body flew towards the far wall, saved from being knocked out of bounds by the rope on the edge of the ring. Connor gasped at the sudden pain.

 _Good. I think I broke his left collarbone. Now to follow through…_

Izuku fired Reject again, powerful enough to displace the air and create a rippling shockwave. When the blast made contact with Connor, he clutched his shoulder and seethed in pain.

"Hah," he gasped. "No mercy."

Izuku didn't know if the boy meant ' _how merciless of you_ ,' or ' _now, I will have no mercy on you_ ,' and he didn't have time to dwell on it, since Connor had disappeared once again. Izuku glanced around the arena, but he did not see his opponent.

 _What the-_

Izuku sensed Connor, but too late. The boy glanced over his shoulder only to see the blue-haired boy falling down from above. Izuku raised his arms to protect himself, but he only felt another crushing blow in the ribs. He felt a sharp pain and felt a crack.

 _There goes a few more ribs._ Coughing up blood, Izuku looked down again to see Connor roll away, left arm limp.

 _He teleported to the ground before attacking. The air-attack was a feint! And it worked._ The pain in Izuku's chest was growing. _The adrenaline is keeping the agony at bay, but neither of us can last much longer with our injuries. Connor's going to want to end this soon_.

When Connor came to a stop, Izuku's Empathy detected a slight shift in Connor's mood.

 _This is it, a final attack! He knows he can't attack me from the front, so-_ "

Izuku acted on instinct, powering up Attraction and focusing it on his opponent before he could disappear again. He pulled right before the boy appeared above him. Carried by the momentum of Izuku's pull, Connor flew over Izuku's head and onto the ground outside the ring.

" **Connor O'Leary is out-of-bounds! Victory goes to Izuku Midoriya!"**

The crowd had to process what had just happened. After a moment's pause, Izuku's fansection broke into applause as medics rushed to the duelists.

"Hey, what the Hell just happened?" Connor was yelling up to Izuku as a medic tended to his broken bone. "One minute, I was above you, and then, I was flying out of the ring! You must have used some sort of secret power for that!"

 _You don't know the half of it_. Izuku felt guilty at having won with his unnatural powers, but it was an honorable fight. Besides, Connor's instant-teleport quirk was amazing while Izuku only had a mix of common household quirks. Both of them had fought hard, but Izuku just fought smarter.

"I wasn't using a secret power," Izuku lied. "I just tugged on you with Polar Control right when I thought you would teleport. I noticed you always came to a stop before using your power, so I assumed that you would keep your velocity after blinking. That's how you ended up flying out of the ring right as you teleported into the air above me."

"Lucky shot," Connor grumbled. "Any of us could have won."

"You should have utilised that momentum transfer! If you had a running start before blinking, you could have hit me with more powerful kicks and done more damage."

Connor just sneered, and Izuku mentally slapped himself. Along with his talent for analysis came a desire to tell people what they were doing wrong. His criticism was purely constructive, but others found it annoying, so he tried to keep it to himself. But sometimes, Izuku just couldn't help it.

A brown-haired medic leaned closer, holding out his hands.

"I'm going to heal your ribs now, but it's going to hurt just as did when you first got kicked."

O-okay," Izuku nodded, grimacing.

"Hey, it's better than waiting a month for your ribs to heal."

Izuku nodded in agreement and braced himself as the medic touched his chest. Izuku knew he could have painlessly healed himself with Sacrifice, but it would have required hurting someone else, and that was a trade-off that Izuku didn't want to make.

 _Better to personally suffer for my own mistakes._

"Hey, Izuku! Nice work!" A muscular boy bounded across the arena, waving his arms. It was Pete, one of Izuku's teammates.

Under the painful effect of the medic's quirk, Izuku could only manage a weak smile. Seemingly oblivious to his friend's pain, Pete continued:

"... When you were kicked to the ground like that, I felt uneasy, but I never thought you wouldn't win..."

Thanks the partial mind-reading that came with Empathy, Izuku always knew what to say, and conversation came easily to him, so he had a lot of casual friends back in San Francisco. Of those friends, Pete, who played on all of Izuku's sports teams, was one of the best. Even if he wasn't really sharp.

"Hey." Another boy put a hand on Pete's shoulder. "Save the conversation for _after_ Izuku is all healed up."

Pete looked down at the medic, and then looked at the pained expression on Izuku's face. The boy suddenly realized his friend's situation and recoiled.

"Sorry, Izuku. I didn't realize you were healing."

The medic stood up and dusted off his pants, "I was just finishing. Your friend is all right now."

"Good to hear," Pete called after the medic. He turned to the boy who tapped his shoulder. "So, who are you?"

The boy looked East Asian, like Izuku, and he cooly stared at Pete with two mismatched eyes. But his most noticeable feature was his hair, which was colored bright red on the left side and snow white on the right.

"I'm… an acquaintance of Midoriya's from back home, in Japan." He looked down at Izuku.

"Pete," Izuku began. "Can you give us some time? I'll catch up with you and the rest of the team later."

Pete looked from his friend to the boy. "Okay, then. See you later!"

Once Pete had walked off, Izuku turned into the newcomer.

"You called yourself a friend, but I don't know you. Who are you exactly?"

"How's your Japanese?" the boy asked.

Izuku switched back to his first language. "You didn't answer my question."

"My name is Shoto Todoroki, and I _am_ a friend, of sorts. My father has taken an interest in you. I'm here to see if his interest is well-founded."

"Todoroki…" The name sounded familiar. Izuku racked his brain "That's the name of Enji Todoroki, Japan's Number Two hero." Japan's heroes tended to stay within Japanese borders, but the strongest of them held global popularity, since many foreigners watched Japan's news as if it were a superhero movie marathon. "So that means… you're Endeavor's son, and the man has taken an interest in _me_?"

Shoto nodded. "But after seeing you fight, I'm starting to question my old man's judgement. Sure, you won, but you were sloppy. You let Connor get too many hits in."

"Oh yeah?" Izuku asked indignantly. "Do you think _you_ could have done better than I did?"

"Yes," Shoto said simply. "You could have avoided Connor's attacks by constantly staying on the move, but instead you ended up on the ground for him to play with as he saw fit. Had he kicked a little harder, you would have been knocked out easily."

Izuku's cheeks darkened. Now he understood why people didn't like his 'helpful' criticism. It was demeaning.

"It's tough to think like that in the heat of battle. Hindsight is 20/20."

"Then how about we test your skills against mine in _real time_?" Shoto looked Izuku in the eye. "Let's duel, right here, right now."

" _Here?_ " Izuku asked, incredulous.

"Sure, why not? This is an arena designed for combat, right? Plus, there are medics here, and you seem confident in your own abilities."

Izuku remained silent. Shoto was getting on his nerves. On one hand, the tournament was already won, but on the other hand, Izuku wanted to prove himself worthy of Endeavor's purported attention. _To fight, or not to fight?_ He weighed the options in his head. To refuse Shoto's challenge would dishonor the spirit of Quirk Dueling: overcoming the strongest opponents possible.

And Shoto was strong, that was for sure. He was a lot of things, but Izuku didn't detect a hint of self-doubt in the boy.

Izuku reached his decision. "Careful. You'll be facing the boy who was just chosen as America's most talented quirk fighter in his age group."

Todoroki smiled. "I'll take that as a yes, then." He placed a hand on the floor of the arena. "You think you're the best? Prove it!"

 _A burst of aggressive emotions. He's getting ready to attack!_

Izuku braced, but he had no way to prepare for Shoto's first attack. In a flash, ice had spread through the boy's fingertips and through the ground, freezing Izuku's feet in place.

 _Ice? But I thought Endeavor was the_ _ **flame**_ _hero!_

As if on cue, a fireball appeared in Shoto's hand.

 _Fire and ice. Two quirks? Rare, but not unheard of._ Shoto drew his arm back and prepared to launch his flames.

 _I should probably get out of here! REJECT!_

The ice around Izuku's feet shattered as he sent a powerful shockwave outwards from his body. The force of the blast sent Izuku's body flying ten feet into the air. Todoroki aimed a fire blast upwards, but Izuku anticipated this and threw off his opponent's aim with a pull from Attract. The force of the quirk's pull affected Izuku as well, and the boy crashed to the ground.

" **In a shocking turn of events,"** the announcer began, " **our victor, Izuku, has has started dueling another boy his age! And what's more, he seems to be losing!"**

The surprised audience, in the process of exiting the stadium, had sat back down to watch the new development unfold.

Ignoring the commotion, Shoto looked at Izuku as he climbed to his feet.

 _Violent emotions. He's getting ready for another attack!_

When Todoroki once again spread ice over the ground, Izuku was ready. He fired up Attract and drew the scattered fragments of ice around his body until they coated him like a suit of armor. Then, he rejected himself from the ground right before the flash freeze covered the floor under his feet.

 _I'm one step ahead of you, Todoroki. REJECT!_

From fifteen feet in the air, Izuku sent his ice shards flying towards Shoto, who saw the maelstrom and grunted.

 _Using my ice against me. Maybe the boy's smarter than I give him credit for._

His mind in overdrive, Shoto pointed his left hand at the icicles and let loose his flames. The intense heat began to liquify the projectiles, but the largest of them still hit Todoroki like a barrage of pellets. Shoto collapsed to the ground under the sheer force.

 _I'm down!_

But Izuku was faring much worse. Shoto's flame blast had hit him dead-on, and the green-haired boy had to fire Reject again to avoid getting seriously burned. He landed on the hard floor outside of the ring.

" **Amazing! Izuku Midoriya is out of bounds! But his opponent seems to have been incapacitated by the ice shards. Could this impromptu match have ended in a draw?"**

Clutching his battered torso, Shoto rose to his feet, head spinning. _I think I have a concussion._

" **And the newcomer rises! To think, the strongest middle schooler in America, beaten!"**

Izuku groaned as he rolled over to find himself face-to-face with the medic.

The medic sighed. "I'm going to have to heal your burns again. If it hurts, remember that it's _your_ fault for getting into a useless fight. You're lucky that you weren't hurt any worse."

"HIS fault?" A new man was towering over Izuku and the medic. "I told my son that we were here to _watch_ him fight, not to goad him into a duel!"

 _Shoto's father?_ Izuku looked up. Sure enough, he recognised the man by his red hair and signature scowl.

"Endeavor," he grunted, pained by the healing process. The man briefly nodded, before turning to face Shoto, who was making his way over from the ring.

"What made you think THAT was a good idea?" he bellowed. Shoto blinked.

"You were interested in Midoriya," the boy explained, "but I didn't see anything special at first. I wanted to see for myself how well he could fight."

Endeavor growled. "You realize that you just attacked a foreign citizen in broad daylight. If this happened anywhere _besides_ a fighting arena, we could have been arrested and deported before we got what we came for." The man sighed. Reckless or not, it _had_ been an impressive fight.

"So," he asked his son, "what did you think of the boy?"

 _I'm right here_ , Izuku thought, but he wanted to hear what Shoto had to say.

"While his form could use some work, his instincts are phenomenal."

"You know," Endeavor said, turning to Izuku, "that's a great compliment, coming from my son. But you could still use some work on the technical aspects on your quirk. That's why I'm here."

Izuku was still confused. "Excuse me, Mr. Endeavor, but why _exactly_ did you come all this way?"

Endeavor nodded, expecting this question.

"I'm here to extend you an offer." He looked around and leaned in a little closer, voice dropping to a whisper. "You see, I know the true nature of your quirks."

Izuku gasped. He thought that only his Father and Recovery Girl knew about his abnormal abilities.

The man continued: "Why do you fight, Midoriya?"

Head still reeling from the fact that he was talking to Japan's Number Two Hero, Izuku stopped to ponder. This was the second time Izuku had been asked the question. He had told Connor that he just wanted to win, but there was more to it than that.

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Okay…" Endeavor frowned. It was not the answer he expected. "Have you ever thought of becoming a superhero?"

"No." In America, the profession simply didn't exist. "It was never really an option for me."

Endeavor leaned back, nodding. "I see potential in you. Potential to become a great hero who can save people. And you won't be able to do that here in America. Not even as a part of the Militia." He took a breath and continued. "That's why I want to take you back home, to Japan. I can train you to more effectively use your quirks before you enroll in the UA hero academy." He paused again to let his words sink in. He sounded sincere, but Izuku could detect a hint of guilt in the man.

It was a lot to process at once.

"Hey, Izuku!" They both turned towards the voice. Pete was running over to their group.

Shoto stepped up to Izuku, holding out a piece of paper. "Carefully consider my father's proposition, and call us at this number when you have an answer." Shoto nodded at Izuku before stepping back. "Nice to meet you, Midoriya."

Before Izuku could respond to the boy, Pete was in his face.

"What was all of that about, man? First, you guys were shouting in some foreign language, and then he was all like, frozen-"

As Pete continued to talk, Izuku looked over his shoulder for the father-son pair. But both Enji and Shoto were gone.

-]-[-

Five hours later, Izuku lay wide awake in the hotel room as Pete snored next to him. He reclined on the bed and sighed.

He was unsure about what to do. Since moving to America, he had forgotten all about his childhood dream to become a hero. But now that he had been given the option, he was starting to reconsider.

His mind went back to Japan, recalling the time when he worshipped All Might for saving people with a smile on his face.

Then he remembered the fear and pain he felt when he watched Psychokiller kick his mother's lifeless body. In her last words to him, she told Izuku to _be brave_.

Then, he remembered the satisfaction that he felt when he drained the last drop of life from the villain who had taken everything from him.

 _Justice feels good, doesn't it?_

Izuku had come to a decision. As a hero, he could 'be brave' for his mother as well as put dangerous villains to justice. And he wouldn't be able to do any of that by living with his absent father in America.

He unfolded the paper, read its contents, and texted the number inside.

 _*I accept your proposal*_

Seconds later, a response appeared:

 _*Good choice, Midoriya. We look forward to working with you.*_

 _-Shoto_

-]-[-

* * *

 **That's Chapter 2!**

 **I took inspiration for Connor's power, Blink, from the Dishonored game series. In Dishonored, Blink works the same way as it does for Connor, except it requires mana and you cannot teleport to a location in mid air.**

 **Again, I'd really appreciate any reviews with suggestions, criticisms, or praise so I can improve on my writing and focus on my strengths.**

 **This chapter was very OC-centric, but the story will lean away from OCs once Izuku gets back to Japan.** **I also realize that Izuku from "The Power of Five!" has quite a few personality similarities/differences to Izuku from Horikoshi's original "My Hero Academia", and that I've taken a dive into the story without really fleshing out newIzuku's character. So here's a list of personality similarities and differences between the two.**

 **-]-[-**

 **Similarities:**

 **Izuku is very analytical and thorough in researching his allies and opponents. My version of Izuku does not keep a notebook, however.**

 **Izuku also has a strong drive to succeed, though at the beginning of this chapter he isn't really working towards a specific goal.**

 **Differences:**

 **Because he has Empathy for social situations, and because he didn't grow up with Bakugou in his life, Izuku is much less timid and awkward.**

 **Izuku still wants to help people, but he also has a strong desire to punish villains.**

 **Since his father simmered down, Shoto will also be slightly more chill, and he won't be afraid to use his flame side in battle.**

 **-]-[-**

 **Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for Chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3: Eat This!

**Chapter 3: Eat This!**

* * *

-]-[-

 _Three weeks later…_

The plane touched down in Tokyo at 4:00 PM, though it would have been midnight back in San Francisco. Izuku rubbed his eyes, still unused to the shifts in time and culture. It was sort of like coming back home. In the United States, very few people looked like him, and nobody had a name like 'Izuku'. Here, however, it was the exact opposite. He would also have to get used to the sound of the Japanese language.

He turned to Shoto, who was reclining in his first-class seat next to his father.

"I knew we would come here eventually, but I had no idea it would be this soon!"

Shoto shrugged. "We're wasting no time with your training. You need to get on my level before applying to UA, and I am in desperate need of a sparring partner my age." He stood up as the other passengers began to file out. "Besides, your father didn't make it difficult at all."

"Yeah. I get the feeling he's relieved now that I'm gone." When his son had approached him with Endeavor's proposal, Hisashi Midoriya had simply shrugged. Izuku's absence meant one less distraction in his busy work life. Izuku had inherited his intense drive to succeed, but the man's similarities to his son stopped there.

Enji, Shoto, and Izuku grabbed their carry-on luggage and exited the plane. As they waited for a taxi, the boys discussed their respective cultures.

"So you're saying quirk fights occur regularly here?" Izuku asked, incredulous.

Shoto nodded. "Though they are usually safe to watch, since the heroes here are very well-trained in containing dangerous situations."

 _Usually_. Endeavor and Izuku both grimaced as they recalled the Psychokiller disaster from ten years ago.

Unaware of the bad memories he had stirred up, Shoto continued:

"Without the inspiring presence of All Might, our Symbol of Peace, the villain problem would be a lot worse. It's said that his existence alone is a deterrent to villainy."

Izuku nodded, thinking back to the man he had once worshipped. "In America, the National Militia fulfils that role. They're tough enough to deal with any interior criminal threat."

Shoto interjected: "In school, we were told that America's Militia was corrupt, oppressive, and self-serving."

Izuku nodded, remembering the thinly-veiled propaganda that the Government fed them. _The National Militia is the only thing that stands between peace and anarchy_. Izuku was weary, but others, like Connor and Pete, ate it all up. Their statements might have been true, but the Militia's red, white, and blue uniforms evoked a sense of fear.

"You don't want to cross them," Izuku explained, "If you don't want to 'disappear'."

The conversation was cut short when their taxi arrived. Endeavor grabbed Izuku's suitcase and placed it in the back seat before turning to Shoto and handing him a stack of money.

"I can take our stuff home and unpack. Training starts tomorrow, and school starts in three days, so why don't you show Izuku around the city for a while?"

Izuku was pleasantly surprised by Endeavor's demeanor. On TV, it seemed like he was cold and standoffish, but in person, he was quite nice. Both Endeavor and Shoto had warmed up to Izuku, and the boy couldn't wait to live with them for the next ten months.

"Sounds great. Thanks!" Shoto turned to Izuku. "Do you want to see if we can find a pro hero in action?"

Izuku nodded. Shoto pocketed the cash before calling out after his father:

"We'll be home for dinner!"

-]-[-

As they walked, the two boys tried, and failed, to look inconspicuous as they slurped hot noodles from paper cups. They were moving as part of a large group of fans, following a treelike man in a navy blue uniform.

"That's Kamui Woods," Shoto explained between bites. "He's rising fast in the ranks of the Pro Heroes."

"Yeah," Izuku replied. "On the plane, I saw that he helped capture a rampaging giant this morning." Like everybody, Izuku followed Japan's news closely. It was fun to follow the heroes as they fought their way through surreal scenarios and rose in popularity.

Shoto shrugged. "Just another day in our superhuman society. I thin-"

 ***BOOM***

He was interrupted the sound of a loud explosion nearby.

"What-"

The loud noise sounded again, and a woman screamed. Some people took off running in the opposite direction, while others ran towards the noise. Kamui woods extended a limb and grappled to a rooftop and Shoto pointed after him.

"Let's go. There might be a villain fight to watch!"

Shoto, who was eager to impress his new friend, pushed their way to the front of a growing mob. The two were met with quite the sight:

Buildings were collapsing in a once-narrow alleyway as men in hero costumes tried to protect the crowd. Kamui Woods was pulling civilians out of harm's way, muttering something about 'his weakness' while another hero created a makeshift blockade with jets of water. In the middle of all the chaos, a rubbery green monster clutched onto something tightly. The villain seemed to be made out of pure sludge, and upon closer inspection, Izuku noticed that he was carrying a struggling person.

As more blasts scattered more rubble, Izuku noticed that the heroes were not doing anything.

"Shoto..." he began.

"I know. The heroes' quirks aren't strong enough to stop it. We'll just have to wait for more to show up."

A few more seconds passed, and Izuku noticed that the blond struggling boy was getting weaker and weaker. It was a miracle he had survived for so long in the villain's grasp. The boy's eyes were fearful, now. Help would not arrive in time.

"Shoto," Izuku repeated. "Can you hold the villain still while I pull this guy out?"

"You can't seriously be thinking-" Shoto began, but his friend had already pushed through the crowd. _Oh dear_. Shoto briefly hesitated, before following Izuku into the center of the mayhem.

Focusing on the target in front of him, Shoto aimed a wave of ice at the place where the sludge villain's feet should have been. The attack hit true, and the once-viscous substance turned solid and momentarily fused the sludge villain to the ground. His eyes went wide with malice and he looked directly at Shoto.

"Ice powers," he growled. "What an interesting quirk. I'll take you as well!"

 _Shit,_ thought Shoto. _Now it's your turn, Midoriya!_

A few meters closer to the villain, Izuku concentrated hard on the captive boy before powering up Attract. As Izuku pulled his own body closer, the blond slowly slid out of the villain's grasp. Once the boy was completely freed, Shoto let loose with his ice powers. In seconds, the villain was completely subdued, encased in a solid sheet of ice.

 _Got him!_

Strained to his limit, Izuku collapsed onto the ground next to the blond boy. Pulling large objects with Attract was physically draining, especially with all the sludge that was between him and his target. Now that the villain was immobilized, the pro heroes walked tentatively closer to the trio of boys.

"Kid, are you okay?" Kamui woods asked toward the blond boy. But the boy wasn't looking at him. He was looking right at Izuku, eyes wide.

"Deku? Is that you?"

-]-[-

"So let's get this straight," Bakugou began, his energy replenished by a bowl of noodles, courtesy of Shoto. "You're back from America?"

After being praised by the pro heroes for their bravery, and, in Bakugou's case, his endurance, the blond followed the duo out of the alley, desperate to get answers from his childhood acquaintance. The group had stopped at another noodle stand so they could feed their new companion.

"Yep," Izuku replied. "Apparently, Endeavor has taken an interest in me, so he's taken me here to train with Shoto to be a hero."

"Wait." Bakugou stopped in his tracks, turning to Shoto. "You know Endeavor? He's training you guys? You want to be heroes too?"

"I'm his son," Shoto deadpanned, used to the attention. "And yes, he's training us. And yes, we want to be heroes."

"That's fucking amazing! I saw Deku fight on TV, but to think that he's back here…" He paused, and turned back to Izuku. "You remember me, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do," Izuku replied, surprised to detect sincerity in his former bully. "I remember you being… mean, to say the least." Izuku and Bakugou had been friends at a young age, but their friendship turned sour when Bakugou found his powerful explosion quirk. All of that happened almost a decade before, but Izuku still bore some resentment.

"Yeah..." Bakugou looked down, his face growing darker. "I remember that." He recalled a moment where he blasted his weaker friend a little too aggressively during playtime. "I was a little bitch back then, wasn't I? I guess… shit got real when the villain fought Endeavor and you seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth. It was a surprise to see you fighting on American TV ten whole years later..."

"Hold up," Izuku said, stopping again. "Endeavor was there when my mother died?"

"Yeah, it was on the news: Endeavor versus Psychokiller. Didn't you know?"

"No, not at all." He turned to Shoto, who shrugged.

Izuku's blood went cold. _That must be how Endeavor knows about my quirks. Does he have something to do with the death of my mother?_ It was suspicious that Endeavor had withheld this from him. There seemed to be more to the man than he was letting on

"Anyways," Shoto said, steering the conversation away from its tangent. "Bakugou. You did well resisting the Sludge Villain. A normal boy our age would have suffocated, for sure. You said you were trying to be a hero, correct?"

"Yeah! I'm applying to UA this year, just like you guys."

"Well," Shoto continued, "Izuku and I will be preparing for UA by training with my father. I don't know what you've been doing to prepare-"

"-Cut to the chase," Bakugou snarled. Izuku flinched at the outburst, but he, too, wanted to hear what Shoto was trying to say.

"You're welcome to join us, if you want."

Bakugou's eyes went wide at Shoto's proposal. Personal training under the Number Two Hero was not something he wanted to pass up.

"Seriously?" asked Bakugou.

Shoto nodded.

"Hell yeah I'm free. When does it start?"

"It starts tomorrow."

-]-[-

After the boys had left the scene, Toshinori Yagi walked in the opposite direction, on the way back to his hero agency.

 _Those kids dealt with the situation nicely. Thank God I didn't have to use my strengthened form again. I don't know how much I could've taken..._

Ever since his fight against All For One six years ago, All Might's health, and by extension, the potency of his power, had been diminishing rapidly. He was only able to hold his 'heroic form' for three hours at a time before deflating to a gaunt, skinny man.

 _And there is no mistaking it. That boy back there was the television-famous Izuku Midoriya, from the accident, almost ten years ago._

The boy had acted brave back there, but All Might knew it was easy for someone to be heroic with Izuku's skill and firepower.

 _Not the kind of guy I'm looking to pass One For All on to._ He frowned. _That reminds me: I really need to find a successor._

All Might knew he didn't have long before his power was snuffed out completely. If he waited any more, the work of generations of One For All users would be wasted.

 _There's that Mirio boy, but-_

His train of thought was cut short when the ground started violently shaking.

 _What the…_

His thin body was thrown to the ground, and he staggered to his feet in a daze.

"Earthquake!" someone shouted.

 _Small scale,_ All Might thought. _But it has the potential to do some damage._

All Might looked up to see a small five-story building shaking in its foundation. People in the lobby ran out into the street, but All Might knew there would be more people on the higher levels.

 _Shit_ , he thought. _Someone has to go there and rescue them before the building falls_. He looked around, seeing only the faces of frightened civilians. _And that person would have to be me. Oh well..._

"I'M HERE," All Might shouted, shifting into his hero form. In the commotion, nobody had paid the skinny man any attention, so nobody would have seen his transformation.

Wasting no time, he sprinted toward the building entrance, but somebody else beat him to it. A brown-haired girl flung open the lobby doors and ran inside. She couldn't have been any older than fourteen.

"WAIT," All Might yelled after the girl as he followed her inside. She turned around and looked at him, trembling. "Don't you see this building is dangerous?"

"All Might! I- I-" she mumbled, before hardening her resolve and looking up defiantly. Normally, Ochako would have been flustered by the presence of the Number One Hero, but now she was too shell-shocked to even register it. "My parents work here, and my quirk might be able to help them."

All Might opened his mouth in protest, but he was interrupted by another tremor. The building would collapse soon, and he wasn't sure he could save everybody by himself.

"Fine," he said. "But stay with me, and don't do anything rash!"

The girl nodded and followed All Might up the stairs.

"What's your name?" All Might called over his shoulder.

"Ochako Uraraka!"

 _Nice to meet you, Ochako_. He was liking the girl already.

"Let's work our way up from the bottom," he commanded, clutching his scarred left side. "Help the people who need it the most." With All Might's super strength and Ochako's weightlessness, they quickly bounded up the stairs to the second floor.

"Everybody, get out of the building!" Ochako shouted, as she passed the fleeing inhabitants. Since the normal workday had ended thirty minutes previously, many people had already left, but there were still people to be saved, including her own parents, who were working overtime. "It's going to collapse any minute now!"

Once everyone on the second floor had evacuated, All Might and Ochako's unlikely duo moved up to the third floor, and then the fourth, and then the fifth. After five minutes of coordinating the evacuation, they had made it to the ninth floor out of ten.

All Might turned to a panting Ochako. "By now, most people will have escaped. Now save your own ass! I'll double check the last floor for any stragglers.

"Okay!" Ochako weakly smiled and heeded the man's command. Her parents had worked on the sixth floor, which had already been cleared, so they were safe and her work was done. If anyone else needed help, All Might could handle it. He was the Number One Hero, after all.

All Might's shoulders heaved in relief when the girl descended the stairs to the lobby. She was one less person to save, even if she _had_ proven helpful in the evacuation effort.

He took a step, hissing in pain and grabbing the wound in his side. He was overexerting himself in his muscle form, and his power was dwindling. Bracing himself, he took a few painful steps up the stairs.

 _Once I make sure the tenth floor is clear, I'll get out of here._

Over the sound of the shifting building, All Might heard a faint, high-pitched noise. He moved further up the stairs before hearing the sound again:

"Somebody, help!"

 _Shit,_ thought All Might. He clenched his teeth, ignored the pain, and moved towards the voice.

"Hello?" He reached the top of the stairs, only to see a group of six toddlers huddled in the middle of a daycare playroom. They looked up at All Might with fearful eyes. His heart sank; the toddlers would be difficult to carry amidst the tremor. "Is there a grownup here?" he asked.

The children couldn't answer before another tremor shook the building. A ceiling mounted lamp fell, nearly crushing the pro hero.

"Don't worry," he grunted. "I'll save you. Please come here so I can pick you up."

One of the children visibly relaxed. "Guys, all Might's here! He'll save us!"

 _I'll try not to disappoint_ , All Might thought as the kids flocked over. He bent down and scooped them up in his arms, his left side screaming in protest.

His body crying out with each step he took, he made his way with his burden downstairs. After what seemed like an eternity, he collapsed to the ground and dropped the kids down in the lobby.

 _Shit. I can't move!_ "Head out the front door, and get a safe distance away from the building," he commanded. "I'll be right behind you."

"All Might, are you okay?" one of the kids asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. GO!"

The kids obliged and ran out of the building. All Might groaned and fell to the ground. The door outside was in sight, but All Might couldn't move a muscle. His strength was spent.

 _No! I can't die here! I have to pass on my quirk!_

He reached down into his heart and summoned strength he didn't even know he had, rising to his feet. His whole body was shaking, but he took a step towards the door.

 _I'll make it…_

Then, the building collapsed.

-]-[-

 _Where is All Might?_

Two minutes previously, Ochako stood in a crowd a safe distance away as she watched the building shake more and more violently. She had expected the pro hero to emerge any moment, now, but he was nowhere to be seen. While she was confident that All Might could handle anything the world threw at him, she had lingering doubts.

 _He covered it well, but he seemed pretty exhausted when I saw him earlier. I hope he's alright._

"My preschoolers are in there!" came a young women's voice. "I thought they'd be out by now!"

Ochako turned to the woman. "You mean you left them in there?"

The woman blushed and looked down. "Yeah. I wasn't really thinking before I ran outside."

 _All Might will have to get them…_

"There they are!" the woman screamed. Sure enough, a flock of kids ran out of the building. Ochako sighed in relief. But where was All Might?

Ochako stared at the lobby doors expectantly. Now that the building was cleared, the hero had no reason to linger. So why didn't he come out?

People started to scream as the building's uppermost floor caved in. Soon, the other floors collapsed under it, leaving only a fragile frame of the bottommost floors. All Might would have certainly been trapped by the rubble. Before Ochako realized what she was doing, she was running towards the destroyed building, ignoring the cries of the people around her.

 _Gotta save All Might!_

She opened the still-intact doors to the lobby, and saw a mountain of rubble. Eyes full of tears, she removed the gloves from her hands and touched a large girder, rendering it weightless before pulling it out of the way. From her parents, Ochako knew enough about construction to know not to disturb too much of the rubble, lest it fall over. She carefully selected another large section of brick and lifted it out of the way. She saw a flash of blue. _All Might!_

She franticly cleared the rubble from around his body, and was met with quite the sight. It was All Might, but it wasn't _him_. The man before her was far too gaunt and skinny. He looked like he might die any second. He coughed up blood and looked at Ochako.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

All Might blinked. "A building fell on me. No big deal…"

"No, I mean, why do you look so different?

He coughed up more blood. "You know how women wear push-up bras to look more curvy?"

Ochako nodded.

"Well, my muscle form, the body you are familiar with, is used like that. This is my real appearance. Can you keep a secret?"

Ochako took it all in. All Might blinked stars from his eyes. Under the weight of the rubble, he felt his power draining fast. If he was there any longer, he could lose One for All for good. Looking up at Ochako, he had an idea.

"Why did you come in the building with me, Ochako?"

Ochako looked away. "I wanted to save my parents."

All Might pressed further. "But you stayed with me until the ninth floor, even after they evacuated. And now, you came back for me. Why?"

Ochako didn't answer. She was wondering the same thing.

"Let me guess: your feet moved on their own, right?"

"Yeah," Ochako said. "That's what happened."

All Might grinned. "Well, I believe that sort of selfless act is the essence of a true hero."

Ochako weakly smiled, but she doubted his words. "Sure, I'm trying to be a professional hero, but I'm doing that so I can support my parents, not so I can save people."

"I disagree," All Might said. "There are better, safer ways to make money. If your motivations are purely financial, you would have chosen a different career path, and you wouldn't have put your neck on the line to save the people in this building."

Ochako didn't have a response. All Might wasn't entirely sure of Ochako either, but he knew he had to do this. He didn't want to risk losing One for All for good.

"I have a proposition for you, Ochako."

"What?" Ochako said. "All Might, we need to get you to safety!"

"No, this needs to be between you and me. What if I told you that you can have incredible power, in addition to your gravity quirk?"

"I don't know. I'd be suspicious, I guess."

"Well, this is no joke," All Might reassured, feeling more of his power fade away. He was running out of time. "With this power, you could save people more effectively. You could become a stronger hero."

Ochako thought about her parents, and how their well-being depended on how well she played the part of a hero.

"If I could get that power, then yeah, I'd take it!"

"Good," All Might said, plucking a long hair from his head. He converted into his hero form, holding out the strand.

"EAT THIS!"

-]-[-

* * *

 **That's Chapter 3! Looks like someone else is getting One for All, and it looks like somebody else (Bakugou) is more of a decent person.**

 **Guys, thanks for all the support! I really appreciate the Reviews, as well as the Favorites, Follows, and Views. I hope you guys are having just as much fun as I am with this story!**

 **Chapter 4 will be out soon, but not as quickly as Chapters 1, 2, and 3 were released. I wrote these first three chapters back-to-back, so there will be a longer wait for Chapter 4 and all of the following chapters. Still, I hope to publish at least once, and hopefully twice a week.**


	4. Chapter 4: Monster Trio

**Chapter 4: Monster Trio**

* * *

-]-[-

Endeavor was surprised when he walked into the kitchen to find not two, but three young boys waiting for him. He recognized Izuku and his own son, obviously, but he had no idea who the third one was.

"You're late," Enji growled. He turned to face Bakugou. "And who are you?"

"I'm Katsuki Bakugou," he said, tilting his head. "Sir," he added quickly.

"Dad, Bakugou's trying to become a hero too, and I think he's strong enough to train with us," Todoroki explained. He recounted how they had dealt with the sludge incident.

"I see," Enji said, scratching his chin. He was proud of how Shoto had stuck his neck out like that, but the whole situation reminded him of his own darkest hour. "But you could have hurt yourself or others by butting your head in like that. You're grounded for a day. No training for you tomorrow." He faced Izuku as Shoto opened his mouth in protest. "I'm giving you a pass because you're new here, but you shouldn't step out of line like that. It's how people get hurt."

"Sir," Izuku said. "With all due respect, that's too harsh. If we didn't act, Kacchan might have died!"

Bakugou nodded in agreement.

Enji lit himself up with his quirk. "I'm not giving you a freebie just because your plan just _happened_ to be successful. For all you knew, attacking the villain could have worsened Bakugou's predicament and brought the villain's wrath upon you. There are professionals who deal with this kind of stuff."

"Dad," Shoto protested. "Those _professionals_ were doing nothing-"

"Enough!" Enji shouted. "I don't want to hear it!"

"But-"

"Please stop, Shoto." A new person entered the room. It was a woman, with pure white hair, like Shoto's right side. She was getting on in her years, but she still casted a striking figure, which was further amplified by her warm smile. "Your dad is right. You shouldn't endanger yourself before you go through hero school."

The woman walked towards Enji and kissed him on the lips while Bakugou silently retched. The woman was followed into the kitchen by a spikily white-haired boy and a girl with similar white hair and glasses. Both bore a striking resemblance to their mother, while Shoto reminded Izuku more of Enji.

"Izuku, Bakugou," Enji began. "This is my wife, Rei, and my children, Natsuo and Fuyumi."

"Nice to meet you all," Izuku said, bowing. "I look forward to my stay here." He could sense kindred emotions from everyone in the room. Even from Shoto, who was still reeling from his punishment. _This is a good family,_ Izuku thought.

"No need to bow, Izuku," Rei replied. She and Fuyumi smiled at the newcomers while Natsuo spoke up:

"Can we eat now?" Natsuo asked. "I'm starving!"

Rei pursed her lips, looking towards Bakugou. "I wasn't expecting an extra boy, but I made more than enough food for everyone to share. Why don't we gather around the dining room table?"

"No need to ask me twice," Bakugou grinned, licking his lips.

-]-[-

"So," Fuyumi said, swallowing a bite of sushi. "Were you guys caught up in the damage from that gas leak? Apparently, a whole building collapsed."

Izuku frowned. "No. We didn't see any destruction. Was anybody hurt?"

She shook her head. "Apparently, the building was evacuated before it started shaking. I don't really know the details, since the news is developing as we speak."

"Well it's good that everyone was saved."

Bakugou perked his head up in interest, turning to face Fuyumi. "Did you see anything about the Sludge Villain incident?"

"I did," Rei said. "In hours, the whole ordeal made the front page: ' _Three teens defeat dangerous villain.'_ You guys are famous now! It even showed a picture of the three of you eating noodles."

" _Damn pepperazzi_ ," Bakugou grumbled under his breath.

Endeavor cleared his throat. "The press can misconstrue a lot of things. It's not something to be proud of."

Shoto groaned. "We get it, Dad." The boy was a little miffed after receiving his punishment, but Izuku could detect that Shoto was at ease around his family, even if he didn't want to outwardly show it.

"Pardon me," Bakugou announced, standing up. "Can you guys tell me where the bathroom is?" _I need to piss so fucking badly._

"Around the corner and to the left," Enji said, gesturing towards a hallway. Bakugou stood up and left.

"So, Izuku," Rei said, addressing the green-haired boy. "How does it feel to be back in Japan after so long?"

"It feels…" Izuku fished for a word. "Surreal. The world feels so different and alien, and it was tough to have left every single one of my friends at home, but I also feel comfortable here. Granted, I don't really remember anything from this place besides the accident." Izuku felt Endeavor's spirits drop at the mention of it. _Strange_. But he didn't want to press Enji for answers right there and then in front of his family. _Whatever Endeavor's hiding, he's hiding for a reason._

He continued: "And Shoto and Bakugou seem cool so far, so I don't think I'll have trouble making new friends."

Rei warmly smiled. "Good attitude! Meeting new friends can be tough, so I'll have Shoto look out for you on Monday. He can be your own little guardian angel."

" _Mom_ ," Shoto protested, reddening at her affectionate nickname. "Izuku can watch out for himself." He quickly turned to Izuku. "I'll still hang out with you, if you're cool with that."

Izuku grinned and nodded. "Thanks!"

Izuku and the Todoroki family chatted more about their respective backgrounds. Izuku explained the ins and outs of American sports, as well as the rules behind quirk dueling. Natsuo talked excitedly about the prestigious college he had been admitted to, while Fuyumi told Izuku about her brand new job in the office of Endeavor's hero agency.

"Rent's expensive," she explained. "So I'm living here. Mom and Dad have _more_ than enough room for me."

Like her daughter, Rei worked as one of Endeavor's assistants, running the PR department of his agency. Endeavor himself had many stories about his more interesting heroic exploits.

As Izuku laughed along with the rest of the table about Endeavor's near-defeat to an indecent exposer, he noticed something.

"Hey, what's taking Bakugou so long?"

Shoto shrugged. "Dunno. It's been twenty minutes…"

"Kacchan?"

"Guys?" Bakugou's voice come from the next room. "You should come and see this!"

Baffled as to what was keeping their friend, Shoto and Izuku stood up and walked their plates over to the living room. Bakugou was staring at a wall-mounted television, jaw agape. Shoto turned to the screen and immediately dropped his plate of sushi. Plastered over the screen was a headline. It read:

 **BREAKING NEWS: All Might retires after sustaining a life-threatening injury!**

Shoto took a breath, ignoring the ceramic fragments scattering over the floor.

"Well, fuck."

-]-[-

"Now, with our Symbol of Peace gone, it's imperative that you strive to try your very best at UA," Endeavor said, pacing in front of the two boys.

Early the next morning, Izuku and Bakugou stood at attention in front of a pacing Endeavor, while Shoto observed from the side. They were on the roof of Endeavor's hero agency, and Endeavor had to shout to make his voice heard over the wind. Each of the boys wore a heavy tracksuit to keep out the cold. Bakugou was slowly rubbing his hands together while Izuku reached out with Empathy.

 _Bakugou is getting himself pumped up, Endeavor is deeply upset (though he's hiding it), and Shoto is… just Shoto_. It was impossible to get an emotional read on the stoical boy.

"Villains will undoubtedly get bolder, which means that heroes will need to step up their game. So before you apply to UA, I will try my hardest to build up each of you and realize your full potential." He was looking straight at Izuku as he said this.

He took a breath before continuing. "Right now I want to see what you can do with your quirks. See that building up there?" He pointed to a seventy-story skyscraper two blocks away. It towered above their heads. "Rei's waiting on the top floor of that tower with two timers. You need to reach her as fast as possible, without entering the building itself."

Izuku looked up at the top of the building, about forty floors above them. _Now, how am I going to do that?_ Its walls were concrete, and thin windowsills jutted out from the sides, too small to hold a person's full weight. Only one of the adjacent buildings came anywhere close to the skyscraper's height, and even that fell short about twenty stories. His superpowered jumps with Reject could only get him so far.

"You may start at any time." Endeavor tapped a button on his phone.

Bakugou grinned. "All right, then. I better not waste any time." He suddenly broke out into a run and swan-dived off the Hero Agency's roof. Izuku would have been concerned for his new freind's well-being if Bakugou hadn't acted with such utter confidence. Izuku heard one of Bakugou's explosions, and then another, softer one from further away.

 _He must've used small blasts to ease his downward momentum._ Bakugou was foul-mouthed and brash, but he sure was good at using his quirk.

Izuku didn't feel as confident as Bakugou seemed to be. How was he even going to get down from the roof, let alone up the side of the skyscraper? _Maybe I can use blasts from Reject like Bakugou uses his explosions. But am I strong enough to use that method to climb the skyscraper's walls?_

"Young Midoriya, are you feeling stuck?" Endeavor asked. Izuku nodded.

"During your fight with Shoto, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to pull yourself when you used your attraction power."

Izuku nodded again. "It happens when I pull on heavier objects. Both Attraction and Reject have an opposite reaction on my own body. It's why I can't push or pull apart huge objects without hurting myself."

At this, Endeavor stroked his chin, as if deep in thought. "I wonder: if you tried to use Attract on an extremely large object, like that building, for instance," he pointed at the skyscraper, "would you be able to grapple your body to it and prevent it from falling?"

Izuku tilted his head, pondering the question. "I don't know." In all honesty, he hadn't really thought about using his abilities in any setting besides Quirk Dueling. After all, there was no real need to think about it if he wasn't going to use any of his quirks (besides maybe Empathy) in the real world.

"Well," Endeavor smiled. "You won't know until you try."

Izuku shivered at this remark. Endeavor was right, he _wouldn't_ know until he tried, but the man seemed to know more about Izuku's powers than Izuku himself did.

Pushing aside these unrelated thoughts, Izuku walked to the edge of the building and powered up Attraction. This time, instead of focusing on a small object, he concentrated his power on the entire hero agency building. _Here goes nothing_ , he thought, before he jumped off the roof.

Right after he jumped, Izuku's body smashed into the side of the building, smooshed against the glass of the uppermost floor. _Too much power,_ he thought, before loosening his grip on the wall. His body lurched. Now, he was sliding down the glass as fast as a falling body. _Shit! Not enough power, now_. He adjusted his quirk output once more, and found himself loosely hanging onto the building.

 _This is good_ , Izuku thought, before bouncing off the side and lowering himself some more, as if he were a climber, rappelling down a slope. In doing this, Izuku was supporting the mass equivalent of his own body, which would have been more difficult if he didn't possess the strength of a star high-school football player.

Repeating the bouncing maneuver a few more times, Izuku rappelled down the side of the building and landed softly on the street. Izuku turned away from the hero agency and looked up. Now, from the ground, the target skyscraper looked even more menacing.

 _Now what?_ Izuku thought, scanning his area.

-]-[-

Ten minutes later, Izuku stood on the roof of the smaller, fifty-story skyscraper. It was the one adjacent to his target.

 _That's fifty floors_ , he thought. _Twenty more to go._

As he stood on the ground, Izuku had made the decision to climb to the top of the shorter building before trying to surmount the larger one. He had managed to sprint through the lobby with only a "Hey!" from a lounging security guard. Halfway up, he saw Bakugou's lean body through a window, hanging for his dear life. _I'd help if I could get to him_.

Now, fifty stories up, Izuku prepared Attraction as he looked at the opposite building.

" _Here goes,"_ he mumbled, before leaping off a building for the second time that day. He flew face first into a conference room window. As ten surprised eyes looked towards him, Izuku turned bright red.

"SORRY FOR DISTURB-" he yelled, before he realized that had become distracted and was now falling for the ground. _I feel stupid now…_

Izuku powered up Attraction and slammed into another window, doing nothing to stop his fall. He was pulling himself with too much force and not enough control. Mid-fall, Izuku took a deep breath before applying a reasonable amount of force. He fell towards the side of the building, but instead of bouncing off, he slid along the wall and slowed his fall.

When he finally jolted to a stop, he had to take a minute to calm himself. He had just fallen thirty stories, and what's more— he survived! _Is Endeavor trying to get us killed!?_

"H- hey, Deku," came a voice. Bakugou was hanging onto the wall right underneath him, his knuckles white from clutching onto a windowsill. The boy had made no vertical progress since Izuku saw him five minutes ago, and his arms were shaking like crazy. "I'm getting tired."

At that, Bakugou let go of the windowsill and started to fall.

"Kacchan!" Izuku shouted, grabbing the boy with Attraction. No longer holding himself up, Izuku fell too, saved only by grabbing onto Bakugou's windowsill. Clutching for his dear life, Izuku made sure Bakugou was lowered safely to the ground before rappelling down.

He was greeted at the bottom by a dazed blond.

"This is impossible," Bakugou groaned. "Is Endeavor trying to get us killed?"

"My thoughts exactly," said Izuku staring up the insurmountable wall, than back at his companion.

"But now you're here, and I have an idea." He outlined his new plan to Bakugou, who nodded thoughtfully.

"That could work..." the blond said, doubtful, thinking of ways to improve on it.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Izuku asked.

"No." Bakugou deflated.

"Then let's do it!"

The two ran into the fifty-story building, and the lobby's security guard once again yelled out "Hey!" as they rushed by. Once in the staircase, they took the steps up two-at-a-time until they reached the roof access.

"Okay, Bakugou. Are you ready to make the most powerful blast you can?"

"Yeah, after that climb, I'm sweating up a storm. Though I was thinking, it might work better if I do this alone…"

"No," Izuku blurted. "We can only do this by working together. By yourself, you'd risk missing the roof and falling to your death. Together, we can give each other the boost we need."

"Fine," Bakugou grumbled. "But if this fails…"

"It shouldn't fail," Izuku promised. "Not if we do it right." They stepped to the edge of the roof and looked up at their target. "Whenever you're ready..."

When Bakugou nodded, Izuku fired a small blast of Reject from his feet. He sprung eight feet into the air, and Bakugou prepared a blast of his own. He put his palms to the sky and willed them to fire off the strongest explosion they could muster. The brunt of the shockwave hit Izuku square-on, and the boy was pushed much further into the air.

 _Don't screw up, Deku!_ Bakugou willed.

Midair, Izuku turned to the fast-approaching roof of the seventy-story building and powered up Attraction. The attractive force pulled Izuku closer and closer to the wall. He had flown up about two-hundred feet, but there was still about fifty feet to go. _I'm not going to make it_ , Izuku thought. _Not like this…_

Unwilling to give up, he fired another, stronger blast of Reject to propel himself higher. The shock resonated through his body, but he ignored the pain. Izuku's nerves were full of pure adrenaline. When he reached the top of the building, he powered Attraction even further and shot towards the center of the roof, rolling to catch his fall.

 _I made it!_ He stood up to massage his muscles, which felt sore in every single part of his body. _Reject has taken its toll. If only I could handle more weight…_ He softly mumbled aloud, preparing an exercise regimen. _Endeavor probably has something planned for us three_. Then he remembered something:

 _That's right! Bakugou!_

Izuku ran back to the edge of the building and looked over the side, where Bakugou seemed to be a speck on the roof of the shorter building. Izuku waved, and Bakugou sent himself flying upwards with another explosive blast. Izuku pulled Bakugou closer with Attraction, at the same using the quirk to anchor himself to the building. Aided by Izuku's pull and blasts from his own hands, Bakugou landed safely on the roof next to Izuku.

"Well done," Izuku congratulated his friend.

"Too… close!" gasped Bakugou. Before he could lecture his green-haired friend any further, a door opened behind them, revealing Shoto, Enji, and Rei. Shoto quietly nodded to his companions as Rei held up two stopwatches.

"Good work, boys! Izuku made the climb in thirty-five minutes and three seconds, while Bakugou clocked in at thirty-six minutes on the dot."

"Yes," Endeavor began. "Together, by using your quirks in tandem, you each performed better than you possibly could have alone. Well done." Izuku beamed at the praise, but Bakugou wasn't having it.

"Hold up," he cut in. "Are you crazy? What the f- I mean, what was up with that? Your exercise could have gotten us killed! It almost did, too…"

Endeavor ignored him and continued: "However, you were still far too slow. If there were a villain holding a civilian hostage on the roof, do you think he'd wait thirty-six minutes for something to happen? I think not. You took far too long to come up with your plan, and, towards the beginning, you showed improficient uses of your quirks."

Endeavor was, of course, referring to Izuku's and Bakugou's fall on their first attempt to climb the tower. Izuku, at least, understood this. But Bakugou opened his mouth in protest once again.

"...And to answer your question, young Bakugou, I would have caught you if you fell," he said simply.

"...Oh."

Endeavor loosened up, looking over the three boys. "You were slow, sure, but I still have ten months to whip you boys into hero shape!"

He took another breath, and then broke into a wide, psychotic grin. "And so begins your ten months of training HELL!"

-]-[-

"Training hell?" asked Ochako to All Might. He was standing in front of the girl in his normal, non-heroic form. "I thought I already inherited your super-strength!"

All Might shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "It doesn't exactly work like that." He changed the subject. "Do you feel something new within you? Do you feel my power?"

Ochako concentrated for a moment. "Yeah, it's there. It feels so… powerful!"

"So leave that power alone, for the time being." All Might had no idea what would happen if she activated One for All here and now. This was all new territory for him. "You see, my quirk has been cultivated by many generations of heroes, and each new One for All user adds their strength to that of the previous owner. As you are now, you'll be ripped apart if you tap into that strength."

Ochako took this all in while All Might continued: "And that's why you must undergo 'training hell' to whip your body into a suitable vessel for One for All's power-"

"-Um, pardon me, Mr. Might," Ochako began, "but I have a question: if each One for All user adds their strength to the pool, why did you pass on your power before, and not after, my training?"

"Ah…" All Might answered, before lifting up his shirt to reveal a nasty scar on his left side. Ochako gasped. "You see, I got this cut in a fight against a villain about six years ago, and my power's been weakening ever since. When the building collapsed, I was running on fumes. I was afraid I'd used every last bit of One for All, and that I'd lose it for good. My only option was to pass it on to you."

All Might quickly added: "Don't take being my 'only option' in a bad way, though. I was lucky to have found you. You're selfless and compassionate, and, given time, you'll become a suitable vessel."

"Yeah…" Ochako wasn't sure about being a 'suitable vessel.' It sounded like All Might had no choice but to pass it on, and that she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. _There_ _ **has**_ _to be someone more-suited than me for the job. A lot of people, actually._ Ochako bit back tears. _It's my fault he was in this situation in the first place! If I had stuck with him for just a bit longer…_

For reasons unknown to Ochako, they were standing on "Dagobah Municipal Beach." But, unlike most beaches, it was full of heaping piles of garbage. The whole place stank of rotting food and rotten seaweed.

"Anyway," All Might continued. "Because you inherited your new quirk prematurely, and because women's' bodies are not as naturally muscular as men's, your new quirk won't manifest itself as well as it did in me. But you'll still be a force to be reckoned with, especially with that gravity quirk of yours. What does it do again?"

"It's called Zero Gravity, and I can make objects float by touching them with five fingers at once." She removed a glove from her hand and placed it on a washing machine, which started to float in the air. "See?"

"Hmm." As Ochako restored the washing machine to its original weight, All Might pondered over ways she could use her quirk in tandem with One for All. There were so many possibilities… But she would have to get stronger first. "For now, keep your gloves on, because you won't be using your quirk for the next couple of months."

"What? Why's that?"

"Because you're going to strengthen your body by cleaning up this beach, and it would be cheating if you could just make everything weightless, right?"

Ochako heart fell as she looked around the utterly trashed beach. "I'm cleaning… all of this?"

"Yep," All Might said as he shifted into his hero form. "You have ten months! I SUGGEST YOU START NOW!"

-]-[-

"Guh," gasped Bakugou as he crashed into his seat at the dinner table.

"Ungh," agreed Izuku, crashing down next to him. "Long… day."

Shoto grimaced as he sipped from a water bottle. "That's day one… out of about eighty…"

Their regimen devoted Saturdays and Sundays to intense physical training, while the weekdays were to be spent on academics, as well as normal, non-soul-crushing exercise. After Izuku and Bakugou completed the skyscraper challenge, Endeavor had allowed Shoto to participate, stating: "he's learned his lesson." Shoto was relieved to join his friends, up until he saw what they were doing for the next five hours: intense physical training.

They started off with a twenty-kilometer jog around the city, which got progressively more difficult as the day got hotter. Halfway through, Izuku felt dead, and Bakugou was sweating so much his clothing started to light on fire. Shoto seemed to be taking the run fairly easy.

" _Must be nice... *GASP* ...having the ability... *GASP* ...to control body temperature like that..._ " Izuku muttered. " _His quirk is flashy... *GASP*... but it has a lot of hidden uses as well."_

Then, after the run and a break for lunch, they moved on to plyometric exercises like planks, squats and push-ups, which they all struggled through. As a middle-school athlete, Izuku had a stronger-than-average body, but he was already exhausted from climbing the building and running around what felt like half of Honshu. Even Shoto was trembling from head to foot by the time they were done.

After another break, the trio suffered through a different kind of pain when Endeavor took them through a series of stretches. Then, they went into the Endeavor hero agency's weight room to lift heavy weights.

"You need to be flexible enough and strong enough to deal with the physical recoil from your powerful quirks," Endeavor explained. "That's why we're doing this."

At three o'clock, the physical training ended, and the kids were pitted against each other in sparring matches, similar to Izuku's quirk duels. Izuku and Bakugou, however, were so physically exhausted that they fell over after the slightest use of their quirks.

 _Hmm,_ Endeavor thought as Shoto yet again froze Bakugou in a solid sheet of ice. _The dueling will get more interesting when the boys' bodies get strong enough to handle training. For now, though, let's see them try to fight under physical duress…_

After the dueling period was over, the boys wordlessly scarfed down dinner before slumping over the couches in the one of the hero agency's many lounges.

"I have no idea how I'm going to pull this off for ten months," Bakugou groaned, before sitting up. "And if I can't, that means you guys won't make it either."

Neither of the others were in any shape to argue back, so they all just sat in silence for a minute. Bakugou massaged his aching muscles, and Shoto sat still with a blank, detached look on his face.

"So, guys." Izuku began. Nobody moved. "I was thinking about what Endeavor said to us earlier. On the roof of the skyscraper… he said something like: 'together you performed better than you possibly could have performed alone.'"

"Yeah," Bakugou grunted. "So?" But Shoto sat up a little, now focusing on the conversation.

"So… I was thinking: let's make a promise to give each other a boost when we need it. Let's say one of us gets injured mid-exercise. Or let's say one of us faces an obstacle that he cannot face alone. Things will be easier if we can depend on each other for backup, right?"

"A promise?" scoffed Bakugou. "Sounds a little cheesy to me…"

"No." Shoto sat up in his chair. "I think it's a good idea. 'Teamwork' sounds like something my dad would appreciate."

Izuku smiled. "So, let's do it, then! If either of you ever need it, I promise to help!"

"And I, too," Todoroki said. They both looked at Bakugou, expectantly.

He rolled his eyes. "The whole 'promise' thing is weird, but no way I'm accepting your help without pledging something in return." He sat up in his chair. "I'm in. I promise to help, if you need it, yadda yadda."

And like that, a new fighting force was born, as a whole far greater than the sum of its parts.

-]-[-

* * *

 **That's Chapter 4! Thus starts training...**

 **Again, thanks for all the support! I appreciate all of the attention this has been getting, as well as the feedback from reviews.**

 **The main complaint I've been getting is that the characters are either out of character or too developed at this point in the story. I promise, even though I'm changing them up a bit, I'm working hard to stay true to each of the character's core personalities.**

 **Chapter 5 will be out soon, but I'm not sure whether I'm going to skip to the beginning of the entrance exam or make it a filler chapter of the trio interacting with one another. It will be a choice between 'action' and 'interaction'.**

 **Either way it goes, it will be sure to be entertaining, so keep an eye out!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Day Off

**Chapter 5: A Day Off**

* * *

-]-[-

Roaring flames could be heard as Izuku ran through a dark hallway. He peered over his shoulder, but he could see nothing but his immediate surroundings in the dim lighting. Izuku increased his speed, nearly buckling under the heavy weight on his shoulders.

"He's COMING!" shouted Bakugou. "'Cmon, can't you run any faster!

"Quiet!" Izuku retorted. "You're supposed to be an injured civilian. Can't you play the part?"

"Well, sorry if I don't want to lose this DAY OFF!"

Earlier that day, Endeavor had offered the boys a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the day off, on the condition that they successfully completed the morning's training exercise. It was mid-August, the peak of summer, just under four months since Izuku arrived in Japan and their first day of training started. Gradually, their bodies had adapted and the training had gotten easier, but the work was still gruelling. A day off was exactly what they needed.

But they had to complete the exercise first.

It was a simulated stealth-rescue mission. The boys had to elude their pursuer, Endeavor, as they moved through a maze of dark tunnels under the hero agency. But there were two caveats: First, they had to safely deliver Bakugou, who played the part of a wounded civilian, to the end of the maze. And second…

"Why did you have to start GLOWING like a CHRISTMAS TREE the minute we got down here!?" Bakugou shouted. "You brought Endeavor right to us! Who even glows, anyway?"

"S-sorry," Izuku sputtered. "Glow-in-the-Dark is a secondary quirk of mine. And your loud yelling isn't helping us either!" He was struggling under the weight of Bakugou, who was draped over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

"Maybe you're a descendent of that Chinese patient-zero," Shoto mused. "You know, the glowing baby?"

"Not the time, Todoroki!" Bakugou shot.

"Shoto! Make another wall of ice behind us and then take Bakugou!" Izuku gasped. "I'm getting tired…"

"Got it." Shoto heeded his friend's request, lifting a groaning Bakugou onto his own shoulder. Izuku didn't need Empathy to know that the blond was _not_ happy with his current position.

They rounded another corner and were met with a dim light at the end of the tunnel.

"That must be our destination!" shouted Izuku. But just as he said that, he heard a crash behind them. _Shit! Endeavor must be really close if he broke through Shoto's ice wall already!_

"At this rate, we're not going to make it without being caught," Shoto said. "Any ideas, boys?"

" _At this rate…_ " Izuku mumbled. " _How can we go faster?"_

"What are you mumbling about, Deku?" Bakugou asked. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes," Izuku said. He had a plan. "Shoto, coat the floor from here to the exit in ice! Bakugou, do you know how a spaceship engine works?"

"Basically," he answered. "It uses combustions to propel itself through a frictionless environment…" Bakugou realized his friend's plan. "Oh."

"Do that, but with explosions over ice, and I'll do the same!"

With Bakugou still over Shoto's shoulders, the three boys fell to the now-icy ground. Endeavor rounded the dark corner to find himself facing two sets of opened palms.

"Reject!"

"Explode!"

Endeavor was blown back by the two shockwaves as the boys slid away from the pro hero at an extremely fast speed. The three crossed the length of the hallway in no time and crashed into the far wall, finding themselves directly under a skylight. A square of green tape marked a "Safe Zone," which they currently occupied.

"We made it!" shouted Izuku, holding out two hands. Each of his freinds slapped one, giving him a high five."

"I knew we could do it!" shouted Bakugou. "Take that, Endeavor!"

The hero himself was walking towards them, the ice around his feet melting wherever he stepped.

He cleared his throat: "Once again, excellent work in using your quirks' powers in tandem. Even though I detected you early on, you completed the objective, which was to take the injured civilian to the safe zone. But your execution still had its' flaws."

He turned to Izuku. "Young Midoriya, in this stealth scenario, your Glow-in-the-Dark powers hindered you more than they helped. For your actual hero costume, I suggest you come up with a design that can cover up any exposed skin. In the real world, you cannot give away your position so easily as you did today." Izuku nodded as Endeavor turned to Bakugou.

"As for you, Bakugou, you really played the part of a wounded civilian by shouting at the top of your lungs. But you also could have given away your team's position."

"Same goes for you, Shoto." He turned to his son. "Those ice walls didn't really do anything against me, the _Flame_ Hero. Your quirk is strong, but do you really need to use it, and risk altering your body temperature, when you don't even need to? Keep that in mind for your Recommendations Exam, which is coming up."

"Great!" Bakugou yelled. "Now can we have our day off?"

Endeavor sighed. "I suppose so. A promise is a promise, after all. But no junk food-"

Before he could finish his sentence or change his mind, the three boys were out the door.

-]-[-

"...So, what now?" Shoto asked his friends. They had barely made it ten feet from Endeavor's hero's agency before they stopped in their tracks. They had been so dead-set on earning their day off that they now had no idea how they were going to spend it.

"Hmm," Izuku pondered. "There are a lot of options…"

"Let's do paintball," Bakugou blurted. "It's a perfect way to decompress after all our hard work! Plus, I desperately want to shoot someone full of paint rounds."

" _Decompress?_ " Izuku protested. "After months of being on our toes and being bullied by Endeavor, you want to be in the middle of a battlefield? I was thinking of something more relaxing, like a day at the beach!" He around at his friends. "How does that sound?"

"Boring," said Bakugou.

"I don't care either way," added Shoto.

"But, Shoto," Izuku began. "If you had to choose one or the other, what would it be?"

"No idea," replied Shoto.

"Great," Bakugou replied. "So we're at an impasse."

Izuku looked at hard at Bakugou. Bakugou matched his stare. The blond was dead-set in his ways. There would be no persuading him.

"How about a compromise, then?" Izuku suggested. "We can hang out at a beach until it starts to cool down, and then we'll go paintballing!" He looked at Shoto, who shrugged his approval.

Bakugou grumbled. "I'd rather not go to the beach at all, but it would be no fun paintballing without any team. I'll do it."

"Alright, then. To the beach!"

-]-[-

 _At a beach..._

Repeating a motion she had practiced a million times before, Ochako bent down and grabbed an empty can from the ground. But this can wasn't as empty as she thought it was, and before she realized it, her black tank top was covered in stale dog food.

"Gross!" she shrieked, before dropping the nasty can. _No way I'm getting the stains out of this shirt. It's three years old, anyway…_

Removing her rubber gloves, she gingerly peeled off her soiled tank top before throwing it in a garbage bag. _And that's my thousandth piece of trash, for today._

She dropped the bag and looked around, noticing a shattered mirror laying in the sand. She walked over and looked in it, admiring her own reflection.

 _Heh! I'm actually looking pretty good!_ Now, she was wearing only a pair of shorts and her sports bra, and it was apparent that she had gotten more fit in the four months since training started. Her baby fat had melted right off, and all the muscles in her body were toned. _Lifting garbage every day for months on end has really paid off. In fact…_

Her mind went to the yet-to-be-tapped pool of energy lying dormant in her body. _I wonder if I can use One for All, now._

She flashed back to All Might's words: " _As you are, now, you'll be ripped apart if you tap into that strength."_

 _Well, I'm stronger than I was back then, aren't I?_

She walked towards one of the heavier items, a washing machine that she hadn't been able to budge since she started training. She mentally reached down into the pool of power, careful to draw only the slightest amount, so as to not overwhelm herself.

 _Just a sliver of power. It will be like degravitizing a small object!_

The energy channeled throughout her body, strengthening her muscles threefold. She felt the sudden rush of power, and, unbeknownst to her, streaks of hot-pink lightning flashed over her bare skin.

She squatted down and grabbed the washing machine with two hands. With a heave, she lifted it off the ground, but dropped it when it started to slip out of her grip five seconds later. She powered down and gasped for breath.

 _Okay_ , she thought. _With this little bit of power, I can lift heavier objects, but it's not like I have superstrength yet. The energy I took felt like only 3% of my full potential, but I want to get used to it before I try any more._ She looked the washing machine up and down. _Now to move this thing…_

She powered up One for All, once more feeling the raw energy creep through her veins. But this time, instead of bending over to pick the machine up, she leaned against it and pushed. With her increased strength, she easily pushed the machine through the sand until it was on the edge of the beach.

 _Great! Now I can lift it into All Might's truck next time he comes around. Speaking of All Might…_ _I can't wait to show him my progress with One For All! I'll call him up right now…_

She looked down to reach for her phone before remembering she was still half-naked.

 _Oops! Better get a change of clothes before calling him over._ Smiling, she once again looked at the large pile of trash that didn't feel so overwhelming now.

 _I'll walk home and get a new shirt. I think I deserve a break, after all…_

-]-[-

"Hey, what's the deal with the all the trash on all of these beaches?" Izuku asked. "It's like we're walking right next to a seaside landfill!"

"Oh, this?" Shoto gestured towards the seemingly endless piles of trash. "This is normal. Sea currents deposit all the junk here, and lazy people just add onto it. The good, clean beaches are further down here…"

"Kinda disgusting," Bakugou added, pinching his nose. "I still think we should have started with paintball-"

"-Hey, guys, look!" Izuku interrupted, pointing towards a plot of sand. "Somebody has started to clean it up. Look!" Sure enough, a plot of sand labeled "Dagobah Municipal Beach" had been partially cleared of debris.

"Oh." Bakugou looked uninterested. "Some idiot must be trying to clean the beach up. Doesn't look like they're doing that great of a job, either."

Maybe it was because he wanted a challenge, or maybe it was because he felt some sort of deep connection to that person who tried to clean the whole beach in a seemingly impossible task, but Izuku was filled with a sudden burst of inspiration when he saw the patch of clear sand in the sea of filth and garbage.

"I have an idea, guys! Let's clean the rest of the beach!"

His suggestion was met by two pairs of disbelieving eyes.

"Um," sputtered Bakugou, who was unsure whether to laugh or sneer. "Why would we ever do _that_?"

"Think of it this way: it will be like a normal beach trip, but you get to break stuff with your quirk and nobody will get mad."

The decision was easy for Bakugou now. "Let's not waste any time then. We have a beach to clean!" He ran onto the sand and started blasting objects apart with his quirk. Izuku grinned at Shoto, who gave an exasperated sigh. Now, he would have to go to the grocery store.

They were gonna need a lot of trash bags.

-]-[-

Momo Yaoyorozu was humming along to music as she passed the fourteenth kilometer mark of her early-afternoon jog. It was less of a jog and more of an up-tempo run, but her UA recommendations exam was fast-approaching, and she didn't want to be caught out-of-shape. She knew she was far more athletic than anybody at her elite prep school, and she knew that she was already guaranteed a spot in the UA heroics course, but she wanted to play it safe, just in case.

At this point in her run, she was starting to get winded.

 _Now would be a good time to return home to the estate,_ she reasoned. _There will be some lunch and some fine black tea waiting for me when I get home._

But things weren't so simple.

At various points during her run, Momo had seen something strange and dark moving in the corner of her eye. At first, she ignored it, but now, it was starting to get on her nerves.

 _Is someone following me?_ She asked herself, before shaking the thought off.

But the dark shape very quickly became something that could not be ignored.

From nowhere, a man in a black and grey bodysuit appeared right in her path. He stood with his hands on his hips, facing her. Momo stopped in her tracks.

 _Is this a villain?_ She shook her head. _It could just be a normal person trying to hide their mutation-type quirk._ But if this sudden appearance wasn't creepy enough, three more identically-clad men appeared behind him. The men all adopted identical poses with their hands on their hips.

 _Oh shit. These are villains._ The same kinds of people she was training to fight.

She started to backpedal, but she bumped into another man in the same black and grey outfit. All in all, there were five newcomers.

 _Seriously, who are these people?_

"Momo Yaoyorozu," spoke the man in the lead as he stepped forward. "We've been following you for a long time."

"...Almost lost our breaths while doing it, too," added the man behind her.

Momo didn't know it yet, but the men in the black suits were all the same person. Years ago, Jin Bubaigawara, known in the underworld as "Twice," had created an army of clones of himself, an army which subsequently tried to usurp him. Twice thought he killed them all off, but one clone escaped to multiply himself even further. And that clone was currently standing in front of Momo with his hands on his hips.

"I'll cut to the chase," Twice's clone said. "We followed you from your _ugly_ house and sweated clean through our suits trying to follow you. So now, we're going to kidnap you. The ransom money from your loaded parents should be _more_ than enough to divide between the five of us. Don't say a word. Any questions?"

Momo chose not to respond, instead aiming a swift punch at the Twice behind her. It connected with his chest, and the man took a few steps back, winded.

"Get her!" shouted the leader, as the rest of the villains pounced. Truth was, none of the clones were planning on sharing the ransom money. They all planned on stabbing each other in the back the first chance they got. But technically speaking, would it really be "backstabbing" if they all knew it was coming?

Momo floored a Twice with a kick to the groin and she blocked another's punch with a shield she created using her quirk, but she was quickly overwhelmed by her four attackers' simultaneous advance. One clone grabbed each of her limbs and started to lift her up.

 _Shit. They'll take me if I don't do something now!_

Desperate for a plan, Momo racked her memory for something that could help her out. She recalled her first ever high-school chemistry class, where she learned about N2O, also known as laughing gas, one of the simplest gasses, as well as a potent anesthetic.

She pictured the compound's structure in her head and willed it into existence around her, being sure to hold her breath. Soon enough, the Twices' grips weakened around her limbs as they fell to the ground in fits of laughter.

"Idiots!" shouted the leader. "What are you doing? Can't you carry a fourteen year-old girl?"

 _Looks like the gas didn't reach him,_ Momo thought, pulling a gas mask out of her bare arm. _But now, it's one-on-one!_

Seeing that his comrades were not getting up, the leader lunged at the girl, who deftly dodged.

She summoned a sharp metal spear and twirled it over her head. _Phew! Martial arts training is really paying off._

With surprising speed, the Twice made another swipe for the gas mask on her face, but Momo sidestepped again, countering with her spear. But the man stepped back and the spear merely tore through the black mask on his face. The man yelled out and fell to the ground.

Momo prepared another attack, but she faltered when she saw that, instead of retaliating, the blond man was rooted to his ground, mumbling, with a blank expression on his face:

" _Aren't I the original? No I am! Wait, that's no that's not right…"_

Momo interrupted: "I have no idea what you're going on about, but I'm gonna put you out of your misery now!"

And then she spun her spear around and whacked him with the blunt end.

-]-[-

"And that's how we found five identical villains, all unconscious," Tsukauchi explained to All Might, who was sitting across from him at a diner. "We still have no idea what his, or their, deals are, but when we separated them and took them in for questioning, they all behaved the exact same. They're all showing symptoms of schizophrenia, which is ironic, considering the man's personality may very well be split between five people, or even more.

"Interesting." All Might sipped his five-dollar milkshake, noticing a few interested onlookers through the window. He sighed. He still felt too vulnerable in his weakened form, as if everyone was judging him for not being strong enough.

"So…" Seeing that his conversation wasn't sparking his friend's interest, Tsukauchi searched for a way to change the subject. "Did you hear Izuku Midoriya's back in Japan? Y'know, the boy in the accident who gained five quirks?"

"Yeah, actually." All Might looked up from his drink. "I saw him at the sludge villain incident. He saved that boy, with the help of Enji's son. Did you know Endeavor has taken Izuku under his wing?"

Tsukauchi raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

All Might nodded. "Yep! Endeavor's training him for UA, along with his own son and one other boy."

"Ah. Makes me wonder if Enji still feels guilty for what happened ten years ago."

"Of course he's guilty," All Might scoffed. "If he wasn't, he'd still be the same bold and brash Endeavor we once knew. But I don't think he's helping Izuku out of pure guilt. The boy has talent, too. Apparently he won a nationwide combat tournament a few months ago."

"I can't wait to see him in action." After a brief pause, Tsukauchi added: "Speaking of UA, will your new successor be attending?"

"Yeah. Ochako wanted to go even before she met me. She says she wants to support her parents, but I know she wants to save people, too, even if she doesn't know it herself."

"But does she have what it takes to become the next Symbol of Peace? God knows we need one after your retirement… Villain attacks have skyrocketed, with the clone attack being the most recent example."

All Might sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. That's going to be a question for the future."

"...I even heard UA's planning on implementing a boarding system, since the streets are so dang-"

"-Hold on," All Might interrupted. "My phone's been ringing for a minute straight." He fished his phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

It was Ochako. "All Might! Something happened."

"What is it, Ochako?" The girl's voice was filled with a mixture of excitement and fear.

"I-I don't know how to explain it. Can you just come down to the beach?"

"Sure." He hung up the phone. "Sorry, Tsukauchi, but my protegee might be in trouble. I have to go now. I'll pay the bill." He put some money on the table and stood up.

"Stay safe," called Tsukauchi after him. "You're not as tough as you used to be!"

All Might looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Maybe not, but I can still kick your ass."

And at that, he left.

-]-[-

Ochako and All Might stood at the beach entrance, the latter's mouth agape. He turned to his student.

"Did you cheat and use your gravity quirk?"

Ochako shook her head. "No, I swear!"

"Then how…"

"I have no idea! I went home for a change of clothes, and when I got back…" she paused and gestured over the beach. "I saw this!"

The entire shoreline was now spotless. In fact, kids had already started playing in the newly-white sand. Ochako and All Might were dumbfounded at this seemingly impossible feat, but here's how it happened:

Once at the beach, Bakugou had gone to town on the rubbish pile, blasting the larger objects to smithereens with his quirk. Then, Izuku gathered the tiny fragments with Attract before depositing them in one of Shoto's trash bags. After they filled about twenty bags, people from the neighborhood started to join in, and they helped with various ways with their quirks. They finished cleaning just in time and left for home right before Ochako's arrival.

Ochako, of course, had no way of knowing this. Still in a daze, she and All Might walked down to a group of boys, ready to demand answers.

"Boys." The kids turned away from their sandcastle and looked up at All Might. "The beach was dirty before, right?"

One of them nodded. "'Twas flthy. But it's clean now!"

Ochako butted in: "What happened here? Who did all this cleaning?"

"Oh," another said. "This…"

"This was the work of the Monster Trio."

-]-[-

"Monster trio?" Shoto asked in a fit of laughter. "Out of all the names in the world, you picked _that_?"

Izuku shrugged in protest. "I thought it was cool! And the kids loved it, too!"

"It still sounds like the name a kiddie Halloween movie. But I still immensely enjoyed the looks on their faces." He turned to his blond friend, who was walking with his head down. "How did you like our bit of community service, Kacchan?"

"I don't care about how the kids felt, if that's what you're asking." He looked up. "But I still enjoyed blowing the shit out of that garbage while everyone cheered me on, even if I smell like a sewer now."

"Yeah," Izuku said. He could sense that his friend had relaxed considerably during their beach trip. "We should all go home and shower now before we get arrested or something."

"But don't forget this day," he added. "The day when we fought pollution- and won!"

-]-[-

* * *

 **And, that's Chapter 5. This one was a little more lighthearted. I hope you enjoyed it!** **Ochako has unlocked One for All, 3%, and Twice has a bunch of rogue clones running around doing villainous things now that All Might is retired.**

 **Edit: Many have pointed out inconsistencies in my explanation of OfA's power output, so I'm just leaving it to the reader's imagination now.** **Thanks for the continued support, and please, leave a review if you have anything to say!**

 **Keep an eye out for Chapter 6. Next up, the UA Entrance Exams!**


	6. Chapter 6: Entrance Exam

**Chapter 6: Entrance Exam**

* * *

-]-[-

"And START!" came Endeavor's voice over the roof-mounted intercom.

Wasting no time, the three boys powered up their respective quirks and made for the edge of the hero agency building. With a thought, Shoto summoned a massive ice slide that the three jumped on and rode to the very bottom of the building. They had been practicing this maneuver for months. Now, they could flawlessly execute it in a matter of seconds.

Half-falling and half-sliding, Izuku looked up towards their target: the same seventy-story building from his very first day of training. But now that he had his teammates at his side, the skyscraper didn't feel as threatening as it did ten months ago. To his left and right, Bakugou and Shoto looked on with confident expressions. They had rehearsed this before. They knew they could do it. Now, they just needed to beat their old times.

They hit the ground running, aiming for the street between the seventy-story building and the smaller skyscraper next to it. Once they reached it:

"Deku, you're up! Half-and-Half, assist him!"

Shoto obliged, creating a twenty foot-tall pillar of ice. Izuku Rejected into the air and landed on the pillar. For the next step in their process, Shoto climbed up onto Bakugou's shoulders (a move that would have bothered Bakugou if it wasn't key to their plan) and Izuku focused Attraction on the pair of them. Aided by Bakugou's explosions and the green-haired boy's pull, the two rocketed up into the air.

 _For now, I'm on my own,_ Izuku thought.

He refocused Attraction on the skyscraper and slowly grappled to it, hitting the building's side at the perfect speed— slow enough not to break anything on impact, but not so slow that he'd fall right to the ground. As he gripped it with his quirk, he began to run up the side of the building with large bounds aided by blasts from Reject.

Ten months ago, this move would have been impossible, but Izuku was stronger, now. So were Shoto and Bakugou.

He passed them as he bounded up the building's side. The former was creating ice platforms as the latter used them to stage explosive jumps from one building to the next.

After many more Reject-powered bounds, Izuku could finally see his target. He crested the roof just as Shoto and Bakugou reached the top floor of the smaller skyscraper. After waving to the boys down below, Izuku pulled Bakugou up with Attraction as the blond boy propelled himself with a massive explosion, just as he had done on their first day of training. When Bakugou landed safely on the roof, Shoto launched himself in a similar manner by riding a stadium-sized iceberg of his own creation. He quickly reached their height and Izuku pulled him onto the roof with Attraction.

"Done!" Bakugou said. He pounded an explosive fist into his palm. "We _have_ to have broken our old records!"

"Yes," Shoto agreed. "I can tell each of your quirks' power outputs went up substantially since our last attempt. Simply put, you can do more."

"And you too, Shoto," Izuku added. "That iceberg that you rode at the end was _amazing_! It had to have been two-hundred feet tall, at least!"

Just then, Enji and Rei walked through the rooftop access door. Rei was holding the timers.

"If you were wondering…" she started, "...you each beat your previous times." Izuku mentally cheered. He was much stronger than he was even a month ago. She turned to face him. "Izuku, you were the fastest, making it to the top in fifty-three seconds. Bakugou, you made the climb in one minute and ten seconds, and Shoto made it in one minute and twenty-four seconds."

Endeavor cleared his throat. "That's impressive work for all of you, considering you just _climbed_ a skyscraper. And don't feel self conscious about your differing times. In my eyes, you completed this exercise as a team, and greatly succeeded."

Izuku raised his eyebrows. Aside from a few grudging moments, Endeavor had never openly praised the boys. Was he being nice now that training was done?

Endeavor continued: "The last ten months have been tough, but they've been useful, too. You've all grown stronger physically and mentally, and you've strengthened your team's interpersonal bonds. I believe the future of heroics will see groups of heroes— and not individuals— working as one."

"So…" Shoto punched Bakugou's arm. "What's our hero agency going to look like?"

The blond boy pulled back. " _We_ are not having a hero agency. _I_ will, because I work alone."

Izuku grinned. "But _Kacchan_ , you cannot deny that each of us is exponentially stronger when we put our heads together!"

"We _are_ stronger together," the boy grumbled. "Which is why our _individual_ agencies can work closely together." Despite having worked closely with the other boys during training, Bakugou had maintained that he was going to rise to the top by himself even if it meant being the only hero in his agency.

"Enough of that," Endeavor said. "Midoriya and Bakugou, don't you have somewhere to be in…" he checked his watch. "Two hours?"

"Right," Bakugou said. "We wouldn't want to miss the entrance exam now, would we?"

Amidst all of the excitement about training, Izuku had completely forgot: the UA Entrance Exam was today! Now, he was only a little nervous— he was pretty sure that he'd get in with his academic prowess and his combat experience from quirk dueling and training with Endeavor.

Endeavor spoke up: "You should go quickly if you don't want to miss your train."

"Hear that, Deku?" Bakugou asked. "Time's a-wastin'. Let's take a shortcut!"

Then, for the second time that day and the millionth time in their ten-month training period, Bakugou jumped off the building's roof.

"Good luck, Izuku!" shouted Rei. "You guys will do great. I know it!"

Izuku waved back. "Thanks for everything, Ms. Todoroki." During his ten-month stay at the Endeavor household, Rei acted like the surrogate mother he'd never had. She accepted Izuku as part of her family without hesitation, and the green-haired boy was grateful for that. "I'll try not to disappoint!" He nodded to Shoto before running to the edge of the building and jumping after his friend.

-]-[-

Thirty minutes later, after saving themselves from a nearly-deadly fall and then walking down the street like nothing happened, Izuku and Bakugou found themselves at the station that would take them to the Mustafu prefecture, where UA's examination facility was located. But they arrived at a busy time, apparently; they could barely see through the crowd of morning commuters.

"Jesus," Bakugou groaned. "This station's so fucking crowded. We'll never get a ride at this rate." He shoved his way through a group of tourists.

"Hey," Izuku protested to his friend. "Careful! Sorry about that!"

Ignoring his friend's pleas for him to stop pushing people, Bakugou managed to clear them a path to the platform just as the train pulled in. But when the train's doors opened, it was packed too tightly for anyone to board it.

But Bakugou ignored this fact. He shoved his body into the mass of people and shouted: "I _will_ board this train." Miraculously, the doors closed behind him and the train took off for UA.

Leaving Izuku alone on the platform.

"Oh well," he said to himself. _By the time the next train comes, the entrance exam will have already started._ "I guess I'll be travelling on foot…"

He pushed his way out of the station. UA's facility was approximately ten miles away. Walking on foot was out of the question, but with his quirk… Izuku knew what he had to do.

With a medium-sized burst from Reject, he leapt twenty feet onto the roof of the train station. He then gave himself a running start and leapt to the next building, boosted by Reject and Attract simultaneously. He repeated this maneuver on the next building, and then the next, gradually parkouring his way east from building to building.

About an hour later, UA's facility came into view. Numerous examinees were crowding into the large double-doors that led to the auditorium.

 _Good. I made it!_

But as he got closer, the ground blurred and he realized he was flying through the air way too fast.

 _Shit, I'm going to crash!_

Neither Attraction or Reject were going to help him at this point, so he braced his body for a crash landing. But he never hit the ground. Instead, something had caught him. Or someone. He looked up to see a smiling brown-haired girl, who had grabbed onto his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she held him suspended in midair. "It's a bad omen to trip and fall, y'know?"

 _A bad omen? I was falling from a tall building! Who is this girl?_ But before he could respond, his insides seized up. He was never good at talking to girls.

But a quick scan with Empathy revealed that Ochako was one-hundred percent sincere. There was nothing to be afraid of.

"T-thanks." As she deactivated her quirk and pulled him to his feet, Izuku noticed something. "Hey, you're strong! I wouldn't want to arm-wrestle you anytime soon." _Idiot! What kind of lame line was that?_

"No," she said simply. "You wouldn't. Anyways, good luck to both of us!" She started to walk away, and Izuku started to breathe a sigh of relief, before stopping himself. _That wasn't a full conversation!_

"Wait," he called after her. She stopped and turned her head back. "That was a pretty cool quirk that you saved me with! What does it do?"

She smiled. "Oh, that was Zero Gravity! It's self explanatory, really; it allows me to degravitise objects that I touch with all five fingers on one hand. See?" Ochako showed him the five pink pads on her fingers.

"Cool!"

"But," her eyes shifted nervously. "That's not all. I have a superstrength quirk that manifested later on. It's some sort of freak genetic mutation. My parents were _very_ surprised when it manifested."

"Oh." Ochako's quirk situation sounded all too familiar to Izuku. But he couldn't tell her the full truth. "I have something like that, too! In addition to my primary quirk, Polar Control, I have a less-useful ability: Glow-in-the-Dark. Also pretty self-explanatory." That was the explanation he used whenever somebody asked about his quirk. Neither of them wanted to reveal the true nature of their powers. Ochako didn't want to reveal All Might's secret and bring unwanted harm to herself, and Izuku didn't want people to see him as some inhuman freak.

"Ohh, funny! How do you even sleep? I bet it causes a whole bunch of problems."

"Yeah, it does! I sleep with a special blindfold that forces my eyes shut and blocks all light…" He continued talking with the girl as they entered the auditorium. She was nice enough, and Izuku could tell with Empathy that she was actually interested in what he was saying. That was a plus.

"So," she interrupted. "It looks like we have assigned seats. Mine is up there." She pointed up to a higher row of seats. "I guess this is where we part ways, for now."

"Bye." He realized that they had never been formally introduced. "Hold up! What's your name?"

She turned around. "Ochako Uraraka! What's yours?"

"Izuku Midoriya!"

After another goodbye wave, she was gone.

Izuku made his way to his own seat in one of the higher rows. Bakugou was already there in the seat next to his.

"I see you got here fine," he grunted.

"Yeah. I decided to take a shortcut over a few buildings. No big deal."

"Why are you grinning like an idiot?"

"No reason."

The crowd's chattering died down as a flamboyantly-dressed man with tall, blond hair took the stage. There was no microphone on the central podium, probably because the speaker didn't need one.

"EVERYBODY SAY **HEY!** "

He was met by an awkward and confused silence. Seemingly unfazed by the dismal response, Present Mic started explaining the "mock cityscape maneuvers" that they would have to do for their exam.

Bakugou leaned in closer to Izuku. " _Something has to have gotten your spirits up. Usually, you're all lost in thought and brooding…_ "

" _Maybe I'm just in a good mood,_ " he whispered back.

" _Was it a girl?_ "

" _Shut up. I want to know more about the mock city maneuvers!_ "

" _I didn't know your quirk worked on women, too!_ "

Izuku ignored this remark and focused on the presentation. Present Mic was displaying three different kinds of robots, each assigned a different point value.

A bespectacled boy sitting a few rows in front of them shot to his feet, hand raised. "May I ask a question?"

" _Hardo,_ " Bakugou whispered.

" _Shut up!_ "

The boy with the glasses asked a question about the fourth variety of robot displayed before rounding on the two bickering boys in the row behind him.

"-And you two," he said, pointing two accusatory fingers at Izuku and Bakugou. "You've been chatting the whole time. It's annoying. If you can't take this seriously, then please leave immediately!"

Bakugou shot to his feet and glowered back.

"What's that, you little-" But he was stopped by Izuku, who pulled him back down into his seat.

" _Sorry,_ " he whispered.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Present Mic tried to regain control of the now-snickering audience. "Examinee 7111, nice catch!" He went on to describe the fourth type of robot, worth zero points, that should just be avoided.

" _I don't get what any of this has to do with Mario,_ " Bakugou whispered as Izuku looked straight ahead.

"...PLUS ULTRA," shouted Present Mic. "Good luck, everyone!"

"Wait, what?" Bakugou asked, perplexed.

"'Plus Ultra' is the UA school motto, dumbass." Izuku explained. "It means 'Go Beyond' in Latin. That means we have to leave now."

-]-[-

Izuku looked over the model city along with a large group of examinees. _So big. I wonder how they can afford it all…_

He took his eyes off the buildings and scanned the crowd. _Everyone's nervous, though they're hiding it well. There's the uptight glasses guy, and there's Ochako. She's really scared. I'll go and talk to her…_

Before he could walk over to her, however, a firm hand grabbed his shoulder. Izuku turned to face the annoying glasses boy with purple hair.

"...Hoping to interfere?" he asked.

 _No. Mind your own business._ Izuku was cross, but he could sense that the tightly-strung boy was just as nervous as everyone else. He went calm.

"No, nothing like that. I just was trying to wish my friend good luck." He stretched out his hand. "I don't think I've had the pleasure. I'm Izuku Midoriya, from America."

The boy relaxed. "Nice to meet you, Midoriya. I'm Tenya Iida, from here in Japan. Sorry we got off on the wrong foot."

"It's all good. Sorry for being a nuisance during Present Mic's presentation."

"Forget about it." He smiled sadly. "Truth is, I'm really nervous for this."

Izuku nodded. In addition to nervousness, he detected a hint of inadequacy in the boy.

"Big shoes to fill?"

Iida looked shocked. "How did you know?"

"-AND START!" came Present Mic's voice from a high platform. The examinees all looked around, confused. "What's wrong?" the man yelled. "Run!"

"Talk later?" Izuku asked. Iida nodded. He powered up his leg engines as Izuku prepared a blast of Reject, and they rocketed forward, away from the crowd.

Behind them, Ochako degravitised herself and sent herself into the air with a superstrengthened jump. _This is 10% of my full power. I need to get a good vantage point._ As she launched further into the air, she spotted a cluster of one-point robots in an alleyway below her. _Here's a good spot!_ She raised a fist. _Now, All Might called this move 'Detroit Smash.'_ She punched into the air, sending out a shockwave that easily turned her upwards trajectory into a downwards one.

As she rocketed into the street, the other examinees caught up to the action, each of them searching for a robot to destroy. Iida blasted apart a two-point one with a turbo-charged kick, and Izuku sent a Reject shockwave towards a smaller one. The bot shattered on impact.

" _That's one point,_ " Izuku muttered. " _Now, to find more!_ "

The UA Entrance exam had officially begun.

As the other examinees caught up, Izuku ran further into the city. Better to put a distance between himself and the other examinees. He could see three robots in the street ahead: the two nearest to him resembled large, mechanical scorpions (each worth two points) and the one further down the street looked like some sort of mecha-tank (worth three points).

"Who's first?" Izuku shouted, even though the robots probably couldn't understand him. One of the two-point scorpions crawled closer.

 _I'll start with you!_ Izuku stretched out two hands and focused Attraction on the buildings on either side of him. He grappled towards the scorpion and struck its left leg with a sharp kick. The robot momentarily collapsed to the ground, giving Izuku a window to place his palm on the bot's chassis and fire off Reject. The scorpion was blown back into its identical counterpart, and both of them shattered on impact, leaving Izuku facing the three-point bot.

 _You look tough. I'll keep my distance, for now._ He held out two palms and sent rapid Reject shockwaves towards the tank-like bot, careful not to injure himself in the process. While Reject wasn't as effective through soft fluids like air, each blast was strong enough to tear off a piece of the tankbot's outer armor. When it looked sufficiently damaged, Izuku launched into the air with another blast of Reject. Like a practiced gymnast, he landed squarely on top of the robot, reached down into its exposed interior, and ripped out a bunch of important-looking wires. The bot powered down.

 _That's eight points total! And…_ he looked at his watch. _...I still have eight and a half minutes to go! I can't stop now…_

He ran for an intersecting street, finding himself face-to-face with a one point bot. He instinctively fired off Reject, and the bot shattered. _Huh. The one-pointers are significantly weaker than the others. Just a small amount of force will tear them apart!_

Thinking this, Izuku had an idea: he grappled to the base of the nearest faux-building and hopped to its roof. From there, he could watch the streets below him. There were a few two- and three-point bots, but Izuku was looking for the more abundant one-pointers. When he saw one, he sent a small, concentrated blast from Reject at its center of mass. It toppled over, destroyed, and Izuku did the same for another one-pointer. From the roof, he could use this method to snipe all the one-point bots in sight. Once he toppled six more, he leaped down onto a three-pointer and blasted its plating off before ripping out its vital wiring.

 _Twenty points! Six-and-a-half minutes to go!_

Izuku blasted apart a wandering one-pointer, steeling himself for the next six minutes. He looked around for other examinees and, when he saw none, sprinted towards the next ally, prepared to face off against the robots that lay within.

-]-[-

Sprinting by, Ochako let her fingers brush against a two-pointer, which started floating in the air. She pivoted, and, charging her body with 10% of One for All, punched it straight into a concrete wall.

"FOUR MINUTES LEFT!"

"Phew!" She wiped the sweat off her forehead, allowing herself a moment's rest. At thirty-five points, she had built up a comfortable score. Surely, with her two quirks, she was doing better than the rest of the group. She looked down at her quivering arms. Sure, One for All was powerful at 10% strength, but she couldn't help but feel inadequate. All Might mastered his full power right when he first received it. Why was she so much weaker?

 _I'll try using 15%, just to see if it works. If it doesn't, so be it, but if it does, I can work my way up from there…_

Further down the street, she spotted a three-point bot. She charged her body with One for All and ran towards it. It spotted her and moved closer. It was within striking range.

 _This is it! 15% Smash!_

The amazing energy coursed through her whole body as she winded back for a punch. She released the pent-up power and struck the bot hard. It shattered on impact, the fragments creating a maelstrom that swallowed a one-pointer.

 _Great,_ she thought, not noticing the soreness in her right arm. _Now I'll try twenty percent!_

-]-[-

Sitting with the other teachers, All Might observed Ochako's progress from hidden cameras. He was proud of her for coming one step closer to mastery of her quirk, but he was also concerned for her. If she overexerted herself now, she could become seriously injured.

 _Please play it safe, Ochako. For your own good…_

"How's it looking, Toshinori?" asked Nezu from beside him.

"Good." He gestured to the screen. "We have a few loners who are sticking to themselves and scoring big points, namely Katsuki Bakugou, Izuku Midoriya, and my successor, Ochako Uraraka." He pointed to a blond boy who was causing large-scale carnage with his explosive quirk, and then to Izuku, who was scoring fewer points but ultimately playing the game more strategically.

"And then, we have the 'Good Samaritans,' helping others in need." He pointed to a screen that showed a girl pulling rubble off an injured examinee with what looked like vines coming from her head.

Nezu nodded. "Things are going as expected, but that will all change when we introduce the next element."

He pressed a button, and the ground began to shake.

"The 'Zero Point Colossus' will bring out the best or the worst in everybody here."

-]-[-

Ochako felt the ground start to rumble.

 _What's all this about?_ She poked her head out of the alley to see what was going on, and she was met with quite the sight. It was the zero-point bot, but it was a lot bigger than she had ever imagined. It towered fifteen stories above her head, and it caused a miniature earthquake as it stepped down onto the fake city.

 _Shit! I can't take this thing on. I'll use my One for All twenty percent— to run away!_

But as she let the energy flow throughout her body, her legs went out from underneath her. "AGH!" she cried out. _Too much power. Are my legs… broken?_

She tried to move to a sitting position, but her legs refused to cooperate. She could do nothing but watch the enormous mecha as it stomped closer and closer.

Izuku was busy sprinting away from the bot when he saw Ochako. When he saw her injured on the ground, he didn't hesitate to scoop her up in his arms like in a princess hold.

"T-thanks, Izuku," she smiled weakly.

"Thank me later. We have to outrun this thing! Is there any way you can use Zero Gravity on yourself to lighten my load?"

"Sure, but hold on tight! I don't want to float away." She wrapped her arms around his neck before degravitizing her body. Izuku's face reddened as he became self-conscious about the position they were in. But he pushed the distracting thoughts aside and continued to run away from the rampaging bot.

But it soon became apparent that their escape plan wasn't going to work out: the zero-point bot was gaining on them. Ochako was weightless, sure, but Izuku still needed to use two hands to carry her, and he was already exhausted from fighting the villain bots for nine minutes.

He looked back over his shoulder and psychically pulled some rubble from a building down into the zero-point villain's path, but the mecha stepped right over it and continued his charge. Izuku looked around for ideas. He spotted a three-point robot directly in their path.

"Hey, Ochako! Can you degravitise that villain bot over there?"

She looked up at him. "Don't tell me you're still trying to score points!"

"I'm not! I want to use it as ammunition against the giant robot!"

Hearing his explanation, Ochako obliged and reached over to tough the robot with her hand. Now that it was floating, Izuku set Ochako down and palmed the hunk of metal. Since it was weightless, he could use an extremely powerful blast of Reject without having to worry about recoil. Like breathing, Izuku summoned the power and released it, and the robot went flying like a bullet into the zero-point bot's torso. A robot-sized hole appeared in the front and the back, but the goliath kept on moving.

Izuku steeled himself as he prepared another blast of Reject.

"What are you doing?" Ochako asked. "Run!"

He ignored her command and started explaining. "Throughout the examination period, I noticed something: if you mess with a robot's wiring, it stops working."

He released the pent up Reject energy and rocketed towards the gaping hole in the robot's body. With some aid from Attraction, he grabbed onto the edge of the hole and pushed his palm up. At the limits of his power, he willed another strong Reject shockwave. It rocked through the bot's interior. With it's wiring scrambled, the zero-point bot halted in its tracks as it began to slowly tip over.

"Look out!" He jumped down to Ochako and picked her up, barely rescuing her from the falling chunk of metal.

"Heh," she mumbled. "You did it!" Izuku looked down to see Ochako's mouth hanging open and that her eyes were out-of-focus. She was delirious from the pain in her legs. Izuku quickly glanced around to check that nobody was watching before turning back to Ochako and placing a palm on her forehead.

"Here's for saving me from that fall, earlier."

For the first time in years, Izuku reached inside of him and pulled out Sacrifice, the most destructive of all his quirks. He slowly channeled some of his life force into Ochako and felt his own legs grow weaker. _That should keep you reasonably comfortable until a medic arrives._

"Wow, I feel better now!" Ochako sat up. "What did you do?"

Izuku put his hands out and shook his head. "What? I didn't do anything! You must be getting used to the pain in your legs or something. Now let's go find someone to heal us…"

He sensed that Ochako didn't fully buy into his explanation, but she didn't have time to inquire any further because examinees were crowding around them now.

"H-holy shit! Did these guys kill that thing?"

"No, they can't have. It's too big!"

"Oui, then who made that hole?"

The crowd continued to chatter, not noticing an old woman with a cane who was walking through their midst. She walked up to Izuku, who was leaning over Ochako, and banged her cane on the ground.

"Everybody clear out!" she said in her mean-old-lady-voice. "I have patients to deal with!"

The crowd obliged and gave her some space. The women stared at Izuku for a moment before bending down to kiss Ochako on the forehead. The girl instantly felt better, albeit a lot more tired then she was moments earlier.

"There. You're healed, honey. Now go back home and get some rest! The exam's over and I need to talk to Izuku."

Ochako started to heed the woman's command, but she turned around to look at Izuku again. Without a moment's hesitation, that boy had jumped in to save her, even at the risk of his own life. And then, he did the impossible and destroyed the zero-point bot from the inside. She couldn't help but feel even more inadequate, now. Why did she receive One for All when there were people like Izuku Midoriya in the world?

She managed a smile and one last wave to the boy. "See you later!"

Izuku waved back. "Thanks for the assist back there! We made quite the team!"

Ochako nodded. She was still curious about the sudden burst of energy she felt when Izuku put his hand on her head. It almost felt like he healed her.

 _But that's impossible, because I already know his quirks, and none of them can heal._ She shook her head and continued her walk out of the facility.

"Stupid!" Once Ochako was out of sight, Recovery Girl bonked Izuku's head with her cane.

"Wha-"

"Do you remember me?"

Izuku racked his brain. "Wait, you're Recovery Girl! You cared for me after the accident and you wrote the analysis of my quirks. Nice to meet you again!"

"And it's nice to see you alive and well, but that's beside the point." She poked Izuku's injured legs. "Why, oh why, did you use Sacrifice on that girl?"

Izuku shrugged. "She looked like she was in pain, and she helped me out earlier."

Recovery Girl huffed. "But that pain was her own pain. You didn't need to take it from her and risk revealing your secret. Listen to me." She leaned closer and dropped her voice. "When people find out about a healing quirk like that, they'll start asking you for favors. The favors will start out small, like partially healing a papercut, or stopping a bloody nose. But then, they'll start asking you for more, and you'll feel morally obligated to help, because you have the power to take their pain away, even at the cost of your own health. Believe me, I'd know."

Izuku nodded his head. Recovery Girl made sense. He wondered how much of her advice came from personal experience. But before he could ask, she continued:

"I take it you're disguising Empathy?"

Izuku kept on nodding. "And I've condensed Attraction and Reject into one quirk. There's no hiding Glow-in-the-Dark, though."

Recovery Girl smiled and planted a healing kiss on Izuku's forehead. He suddenly felt very tired. "You're all healed up. Good work today. You'll fit right in at UA. Come to me if you need anything. Take a candy."

And at that, she was off.

-]-[-

"Boys!" Rei hollered. "Bakugou's here, and a package has arrived in the mail. I think it's your acceptance letter!"

Izuku ran to the door and opened it up. Bakugou was there, holding two envelopes.

"I came right over when I got mine. Yours was on the doorstep." He handed Izuku the letter and stepped inside. "Let's open them!"

A week after the entrance exam, life was back to normal in the Todoroki household. Izuku was glad he didn't have to put up with the excruciating training, though he, Shoto, and Bakugou still kept up with the workouts. Bakugou was here, now, to open his acceptance letter along with Izuku.

Shoto walked into the living room. He already knew he would be accepted through recommendations, and he had little doubt that his friends would be accepted as well. But he still wanted to see them, all the same.

Bakugou ripped his envelope open and Izuku gingerly removed the seal. Inside was a metal dish.

 _What's this?_

Izuku placed the dish on the table and it started glowing. _A hologram?_ Bakugou's dish started glowing as well, and soon, the room was filled with two projections of All Might's hero form.

" **I am here! Via projection!"** He quickly reverted to his skinny form. "Guh. Anyway, I'm talking to you now because I'm going to be a teacher this year at UA!"

 _All Might? A teacher? I guess he needs a job now that he can't be a pro hero anymore…_

"So," the projection continued, "to the point! You passed the written exam with flying colors, and you scored sixty-two villain points, the second highest in your class!"

 _Yes! That means I got into UA…_

"... but that's not all. You see, in addition to 'villain points,' we assign 'rescue points' to examinees who do good deeds to help each other out! Since you put your neck on the line and defeated the zero-point bot so you could carry Ochako Uraraka out of harm's way, we have given you forty rescue points in addition to your sixty-two villain points. That gives you one-hundred and two points total, the highest in your class!"

"Rescue points? Second place?" From beside him, Izuku heard Bakugou shout in anger.

"...come, now, Izuku Midoriya! This will be YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!" for these last words, All Might adopted his muscle form before quickly reverting.

"Oh, and I forgot to add: since my retirement, the streets are becoming a more dangerous place, especially for young-heroes-to-be such as yourself. In anticipation of this, UA has adopted a boarding policy. If you do come to UA, you'll have to live in a dorm with the rest of your class. If you have any questions or concerns, call UA at-"

Izuku shut the projection off and pumped his fist into the air.

 _Yes! Not only did I get into UA, but with Rescue Points included, I also performed the best out of all my classmates-to-be. I'm not sure about the dorm system, but I bet it will be fun to live with my own classmates._

"...Deku," growled Bakugou from behind him. "How many villain points did you get?"

"Um, sixty-two! Why do you ask?"

"Because I got eighty-one! And yet, you still placed higher than me because of those deux-ex-machina 'rescue points.' It's not fair!"

"How many rescue points did you get, Kacchan?"

"...nine."

"Nine? What did you do?"

"I blasted apart a three-pointer that had some kid backed into a corner."

Izuku grinned and puffed out his chest. "Well then, I think I more than deserve my forty rescue points, then!"

" _Forty?_ What did _you_ do?"

"I destroyed the zero-point bot."

" _WHAT?_ "

"Boys, boys." Rei stepped into the conversation. "Stop arguing! You both got in, right? That's all that matters." She turned to Shoto. "And when do you learn who's in your classes?"

He looked up. "In a day or so, I think."

"So I was thinking…" Rei looked over the boys and placed her hands on her hips. "What if we threw a party for all your new classmates? That way, you'll get to know them better before your school year starts."

"That," Shoto started, "is a great idea. Let's throw a party!"

-]-[-

* * *

 **There's Chapter 6! At over 6,000 words, it is my longest chapter yet. Izuku got into UA (no surprise) and he met Ochako!**

 **I appreciate all the reviews I've been getting! Last chapter, a few people noticed an inconsistency in Ochako's OfA strength level, so I corrected it.**

 **Chapter 7 should be out sometime this week. Keep an eye out!**

 **Next up - Class A has a house party!**


	7. Chapter 7: House Party

**Chapter 7: House Party**

* * *

-]-[-

 _Why did I ever agree to go to this lame party?_

Bakugou trudged down the sidewalk, equipped with his new earbuds. They were a gift from his mother, who, in an unusual bout of compassion, bought them when her son was admitted into UA. The state-of-the-art workout headset was capable of emitting as much bass as it could without being a health hazard, so naturally, Bakugou loved it.

Perhaps it was because of the rap music that was pounding into his skull, or maybe it was because the night sky was darkening, but Bakugou didn't notice the yellow-haired boy until he tripped over him and they landed in a pile on the ground.

"Oww," said the newcomer. "Can't a boy cross the street in peace?"

"Watch where you're going!" Bakugou barked as he scrambled to his feet. The boy he so rudely bumped into was standing up as well. He had long, bright blond hair with a black lightning bolt streak. The boy clenched his fists and stared Bakugou down.

"What? _You crashed into me_!"

"Sorry," Bakugou grumbled. "Excuse me, but I have somewhere to be."

He turned heel and continued down the street. He was about to put his earbuds in, but he noticed the boy walking a few feet behind him.

Bakugou looked over his shoulder. "Are you stalking me or something?"

"No! I'm going this way as well-"

The boy was interrupted yet again when Bakugou crashed face first into yet another teenage boy. But this time, instead of falling over the other boy in a heap, Bakugou recoiled as if he had walked into a wall face first.

"Ach!" Bakugou shouted, rubbing his bruised face. "What was that?"

"Oh." The newest boy turned around. He had a big smile and spiky red hair. "Sorry! That was my quirk, Hardening! I activated it on instinct, so I didn't mean to hurt you."

Bakugou dipped his head in greeting. That impact was going to leave a nasty mark.

"Kid deserves it, anyway," the electric blond grumbled from behind him.

"Sorry?" The redhead looked over Bakugou's shoulder. "Is he with you?"

"No, he's just some creep-"

"-Hey, Mina! Is that you?" the redhead boy cut in. He was looking across the street at yet another group of teenagers, this one composed of three girls.

 _There's a lot of teenagers out tonight_ , Bakugou mused. _Too many._

"Kirishima!" A girl shouted back. This one had frizzy pink hair to match her fluorescent pink skin. "I almost didn't recognise you with that hair! Did you dye it?"

"Yep!" Kirishima beamed. Mina beckoned for her group to cross the street to the boys.

"So, are you heading to the house party too?" she asked Kirishima. He nodded enthusiastically, and she continued. "I was just heading over myself, before I bumped into these guys. They're in our class too! This is Yao-momo..." she gestured to a girl with a spiky ponytail, who nodded at them, "...and this is Jiro!" The girl named Jiro nodded as well.

Kirishima gestured to the blonds behind him. "I 'bumped' into these guys, too."

"House party…" the yellow-haired boy mumbled. He looked at the other teens. "You guys don't happen to be in UA's Class 1-A do you?"

Mina grinned. "That's the one! You're heading to the Todorokis' right?"

"You got it!" He smiled and jerked a thumb toward his chest. "I'm Denki Kaminari, charging port and aspiring hero. Nice to meet you!"

Bakugou scoffed and the three girls turned to him.

"Are you going to the party, too?" Jiro asked, eying his high-end earbuds.

"I was trying to, until these guys got in the way. Spiky-hair wasn't using a figure of speech when he said we 'bumped' into each other."

Kaminari opened his mouth to correct him, but Momo interrupted:

"What's your name?"

"I'm Katsuki Bakugou."

"A pleasure."

Bakugou noticed something strange about Momo's voice. _She talks all posh-like. Is she rich or something?_ Mina and Jiro seemed normal enough, but Momo had a sort of regal air about her. _Whatever. She'll be right at home with Shoto in the Todoroki household._

"So," Kirishima began, spreading his arms out wide. "We're all here, right? Why don't we group up and arrive together? I want to hear about my future classmates' quirks."

-]-[-

Izuku and Shoto leaned over the balcony railing as they watched the students file in. The guests seemed to be mingling fine. The squat, purple-ball-haired boy had been the first to arrive, a half-hour before the party was slated to start. He introduced himself as "Mineta" and claimed he "misread the invitation," before wandering off, perhaps to search for food. Iida arrived fifteen minutes later, and, after that, guests gradually began to file in.

"Bakugou seems to be getting along well with the others," Shoto observed.

Izuku silently agreed. Bakugou could be standoffish, and maybe even cruel at times, so Izuku was pleasantly surprised when his blond friend walked in chatting amongst a group of people. He, Kaminari, and Kirishima stood chatting as others came and went.

Looking around the Todorokis' main hall, Izuku noticed a lot of strange faces. A boy with a bird-like face was talking to a girl with long green hair tied in a humongous bow. And a boy with a pink rock golem face was shakily chattering with an extremely muscular boy and another boy with a tail, who respectfully nodded along.

Izuku really wanted to enter the fray and get to know them, but he was waiting for someone else. Someone he didn't properly say goodbye to the last time he saw her.

The front door opened to reveal a petite, brown-haired girl. _Just who I was waiting for!_ She was wearing a bright red dress, and she stepped inside and began to take in her surroundings. Izuku stepped down the stairs to greet her.

"Izuku!" she shouted when she saw him. "Glad to see I'm in the right place and not some random party. What are the chances we got into the same class?"

"50-50," he said, before mentally slapping himself. _Rhetorical question_. Hoping she didn't pick up on his slip-up, he continued: "So, what do you think?"

"It's…" she searched for the right word. "...big. Not what I'm used to. And I think I dressed too fancy..." She looked down at her dress.

Izuku didn't think she looked out of place, but he sensed her self-consciousness, so he took off his black hoodie and handed it to her. "Wear this! With the dress, people might think it's some sort of cool urban fashion trend."

She gratefully accepted it. "Thanks! So, as I was saying, the house is big!"

Izuku nodded. "Definitely. And this is just the main hall! But you get used to it after a few months of living here…" His voice trailed off.

Ochako's eyes grew wide. "Hold up. You live _here_? With Endeavor?"

"Yeah. I grew up with my dad in the States, but Endeavor offered to take me in when he saw me fighting in a tournament…" he recounted the circumstances that led up to his arrival in Japan, keeping out the fact that Endeavor was there at the accident that killed his Mom. He knew he could trust her, but that tidbit was… personal, and Ochako probably didn't want to hear about it.

Ochako's eyes widened even more. "So you're saying that you won a fighting tournament in America? I bet you didn't even need to train before applying to UA!"

Izuku shook his head. "The video of my tournament looks cool online, but it cuts out before Shoto Todoroki steps into the ring and destroys me in a follow-up duel. I needed to train hard for ten months to get on his level, and even now, I don't know if I'd beat him in a straight-up fight."

Ochako nodded. "I get that." Having cleaned one-and-a-half beaches with her bare hands, she had her fair share of brutal training. But how much better was she now? Sure, she was faster and stronger, but she could still only use 15% of her power without injuring herself.

"So," Ochako continued. "Was it sad saying goodbye to your friends in America?"

"Yeah. Shoto and Bakugou over there have been great, but I still miss the people back home. A lot of them are probably training in a Militia academy right now…"

"When you say friends, do you mean just _friend_ friends, or…" she looked down at the ground. "What with your athletic accomplishments, you must have had some sort of girlfriend, right?"

In the blink of an eye, Izuku went beet red. "N-no." He stammered for more words to say, but he found none. It didn't help that Ochako looked at him inquisitively, waiting for a clear answer. After a painful moment of silence, he was saved by a loud _bang_ that resonated throughout the house. Everyone in the room stopped at once and turned to the sound, which came from one of the side hallways.

"What was that?" croaked a green-haired girl.

"No idea," said Shoto, turning away from a conversation with Momo. "I'll go check it out."

The party watched as Shoto stepped into the hallway to investigate. Seconds later, they heard another bang, and then a squeal. Then, they watched as Shoto emerged carrying a biting, kicking Mineta over his shoulder. But the strangest part of the whole situation was that the midget had a drawer's worth of women's underwear stuck to the orbs on his head.

"Little fucker was digging through my sister's wardrobe," he explained. "But apparently, he got a little too greedy and the whole thing fell on top of him."

He slammed the struggling boy onto the ground. A few partygoers winced, but none would deny that the little boy had it coming. The underwear on Mineta's head was damning enough that nobody doubted Shoto's story.

"Momo," Shoto shouted. "You can create anything, right?"

"Yes." She stepped forward. "As long as I eat enough beforehand and the object isn't too big."

"Can you create me a set of handcuffs? Or even better: a straightjacket?"

She nodded and pulled a set of handcuffs from her arms before walking over and placing them around Mineta's wrists.

"Kinky," he mumbled.

Momo snapped the cuffs down with a little more force than was necessary, being sure to pinch the skin on the boy's wrists. He howled and pain and she smiled. In her past, Momo had been picked on by quite a few perverts like Mineta thanks to her rather… mature physique, so she had no sympathy for the boy now.

Seeing that Shoto, understandably, did not want to get close to his own sister's underwear, she pulled on an article. "Is there any way we can get these undies off him?"

"Nope," Mineta said gleefully. "My quirk lets me produce spheres that can stick tightly to anything, no exception! The panties don't come off until I want then to come off, ya hear?"

" _I never expected to hear that sentence in my life,"_ Ojiro whispered to Sato, who held in a laugh.

Mina stepped forward, hands on her hips. "No exception, huh? I wonder if your balls can stand up against my strong acid!"

" _Or that sentence,"_ Ojiro whispered. Sato couldn't hold his laughter anymore, and he burst out into a loud chuckle.

Shoto ignored him and turned to Mina. "Don't even bother trying to get the underwear unstuck. Just apply your 'strong acid' directly to his face until he lets go." Mineta writhed uncomfortably.

"Perfect!" Mina giggled, walking over to Mineta. "Have you ever gotten shampoo in your eyes? 'Cause this is going to feel a thousand times worse!"

Thinking back to a time when he had been pepper-sprayed by a model, Mintea finally gave in. "Not my eyes!" he wailed. "It would be useless anyways! The balls always stay stuck to anything they touch, besides my own skin. Their power will wear off in an hour or so."

Shoto smiled maniacally. "A power cooldown. Perfect! Now we just need to wait until it wears off. But how are we going to pass the time?" He stepped closer, leaning down to look into Mineta's face. The midget-like boy looked like he might pass out.

Shoto suddenly stood up and snapped his fingers. "I have an idea!" he placed his right hand on Mineta's chest, channeling his ice powers. With a sharp cracking noise, Mineta quickly transformed into a human icicle, with only his head poking out. "We'll keep you there until you drop my sister's underwear." He turned back to his eighteen-person audience.

"Now please, don't let this perv ruin the night. Enjoy the party!"

-]-[-

Ojiro turned away from the commotion and back to Kouda and Sato, with whom he was conversing with. "So, what do you make of that?"

"I don't really know what to think," Sato responded. "Except that it was funny. For everyone except Mineta," he added. "And Shoto's older sister."

"Makes you wonder how kids like that can even get into UA in the first place. I mean, how could he have even fought against the robots with a build like that?"

"I-I c-can h-hear y-you," chattered Mineta from his icicle. But the boys ignored him. He was hard to take seriously now that he had humiliated himself in front of the whole party. The women's underwear in his hair didn't help his image, either.

A new voice popped into the conversation: "The robots aren't hard to beat, if you know your way around them. Did you know they had an on/off switch on their underside?"

"I'm sorry," Ojiro looked closer at the origin of the voice and found— yes— a disembodied T-shirt and a pair of jeans. "I didn't see you there."

The voice giggled. "That's the point of my quirk! Tooru Hagakure, at your service." The girl's arm sleeve rose up, and it took Ojiro a moment to realize that she was trying to shake his hand. He grasped for her hand, which he found, and uncomfortably shook it.

"Yeah," Kouda chimed in. "The bots were easily distracted by seagulls, believe it or not." He took a breath. Kouda rarely talked, but he was growing comfortable around his like-minded peers.

Ojiro smirked. "You guys have pretty useful and niche quirks! Sato and I are stuck with the simple ones: generic super-strength, and a glorified fifth limb, respectively." He flipped his tail around.

"Speak for yourself," Sato grumbled. "I don't see any of you guys lifting cars."

The group began to laugh, but they fell silent when they realized that their humongous friend wasn't joking.

"That's… a lot of weight," said Ojiro. "Tell us about your quirk!"

Sato nodded before breaking into an explanation. "So, basically, by ingesting sugar, I have the potential for infinite strength, but it comes with an unfortunate drawback…"

-]-[-

As Sato explained his quirk, a more heated exchange was taking place in the center of the hall. And this exchange took the form of an arm-wrestling tournament. Bakugou and Kirishima were gripping each others' arms over the table, both of their faces pooling with sweat as they struggled.

"Go, Bakugou!" Kaminari shouted. The lightning-haired boy was still upset about his and his fellow blond's collision, but he still cheered for Bakugou because of his own loss against Kirishima moments earlier.

"You got it, Kirishima!" Sero, meanwhile, had lost to Bakugou in the first round, so he was cheering against the blond.

Jiro, who had been conversing with the boys before Kaminari proposed the contest, huffed and stormed away. "Idiot boys," she grumbled. She was going to find Momo or Mina, who probably weren't bubbling with testosterone.

Bakugou and Kirishima, meanwhile, ignored all the commotion as they stared each other down. At first, people thought Bakugou would win: he had the wider frame and the bigger arms, and he beat Sero within five seconds. But Kirishima, with his hardened arm, had held up equally as well, if not better than, Bakugou.

With a deep breath, Bakugou tried to push with even more force, but he lost a bit of ground. Kirishima was just too strong. The redhead pressed his advantage, and soon, Bakugou found his own fist pressed against the table. Sero cheered and Kaminari sighed before the two of them left to get soda. Kirishima and Bakugou collapsed over the table, panting and clutching their right arms.

"You're… strong…" gasped Bakugou.

Kirishima shook his head. "At base strength, you're definitely stronger. I only won because of my hardening quirk, which strengthens my muscles as well as my skin. Without that secondary effect, my insides would be turned to mush if they were hit hard enough. Good game, though."

"Yeah," Bakugou grunted. "I don't see how I could have used my quirk without blasting the table apart. But it's still your win. In a real fight, however, I don't know how you'd fare against me…"

Kirishima grinned. "Oh yeah? We can't fight here, but we might have a chance once we get to UA. I look forward to it!"

"Likewise."

-]-[-

"Is everything going alright over here?" Iida was moving from group to group, checking in on the party guests. As a graduate of the prestigious Somei Academy, he felt it was his duty to ensure that everyone was behaving properly. Earlier, he had assumed that his classmates-to-be would be people of honor and integrity, but after seeing Mineta's stunt, he thought he'd do a sweep of the room to weed out any more troublemakers.

"Everything's fine here," Tsuyu croaked. "We were just discussing our quirks. I can stick to surfaces and stretch my tongue like a frog, and Aoyama here can shoot lasers." The blond boy flashed a twinkly smile. She turned to an imposing-looking man with six arms. "Shoji here can grow limbs with additional body parts, and… we were just hearing about Dark Shadow."

They all turned to Tokoyami.

"It's like a second soul," he started. He wasn't used to telling people about his quirk, or conversations at all, really. But if socializing was a chore, he would do it to the best of his ability. "Dark Shadow feeds on darkness. In dim lighting, it gets stronger, but it also becomes more wild and unruly, to the point where I lose control."

"I see," said Tsuyu. From what she heard, Tokoyami's quirk was powerful, but volatile.

"Rest assured," Aoyama began. "If your 'Dark Shadow' ever gets out of control, I'll dazzle it with light from my lasers."

"...Or others in the class could help, too," Tsuyu added. "I know Shoto can use fire, and that another kid can make explosions. I even bet Momo could easily create a high-powered lamp or something."

"Thanks," Tokoyami muttered. "But I do not believe it will come to that. In calm scenarios, I can keep Dark Shadow in check."

Iida breathed a sigh of relief. There were no troublemakers in this group. It seemed like Mineta was the only problem child in the room, and that boy was safely contained. Iida could now party with a clear conscience.

"You..." Shoji turned a handheld mouth at Iida. "I observed you in action at the entrance exam, but I didn't catch your name. Am I correct to assume that you have some kind of speed enhancement?"

Iida stiffly bowed. "I am Tenya Iida, and yes, I have a speed-boosting quirk, but it isn't as simple as that…"

-]-[-

During the Mineta debacle, Izuku had a chance to regain his composure, so he could now answer Ochako without tripping over his own words.

"To answer your question, no. I did not have a girlfriend in America. Believe it or not."

Ochako breathed a sigh of relief, clutching the sleeves of Izuku's sweatshirt. The room had dropped a few degrees after Mineta's icicle was formed, and she was feeling it now.

"Just curious," she said.

Izuku glanced around. The party seemed to be going fine, and everything was normal. But there was Endeavor, standing in the door. The pro hero was staring right at Izuku.

"Excuse me," he said to Ochako as he stepped away. "I think Endeavor wants to talk to me."

"See you later!" Ochako loosened a little. After her personal question, their conversation had gotten awkward, fast, and she was glad it was over.

Izuku walked over to Endeavor, who looked over the room with a curious expression.

"Why is there a frozen boy covered in ice and womens' underwear?" Endeavor asked.

"It's a long story. But rest assured, Mineta deserves it."

"Okay." Endeavor paused. "But besides that, has the party been good?"

"Yeah," Izuku said. "It looks like people are already making friends, before school is even starting! That's a success in my book."

"Good, good." Endeavor shifted on his feet. "Listen. I wanted to tell you this for a while now, but I never found the right time. It's time you learned about the circumstances of your mother's death."

"Umm…" A million questions raced through Izuku's mind. "Okay?"

Endeavor continued: "How much do you remember about how you got your abnormal amount of quirks?"

"I know that I was quirkless before, and that my quirks manifested after the accident, but no more than that. Why?"

"Well the 'accident' happened because I screwed up chasing a villain. It was supposed to be a simple 'observe and follow' mission, but I got cocky and fought him in broad daylight. I ended up exploding the villain's truck, killing five people and releasing a toxic chemical. One of those five people was your mother."

Izuku took this all in. So Endeavor had been directly responsible for his mother's death. It didn't bother him as much as it should have. The villain who fought Endeavor in public was the one to blame, and he was probably dead anyway. But he still had a question:

"What this have to do with my quirks?"

"Five people dead. Five quirks. 'Attraction' belonged to your mother, while the other four came from random pedestrians." Endeavor shifted uncomfortably. Izuku was taking this surprisingly well. He expected Izuku to get angry, or to at least deliver some sort of backlash.

"Okay." Izuku still had a lot of questions: Did Endeavor take him in out of guilt? What was in the toxic chemical? Could the formula be replicated? Were there more people like him out there? But he felt like Endeavor would have answered those questions already if he could. "It's a lot to think about."

"Reflect on your own," Endeavor commanded, "and don't be afraid to resent me for my part in all of it. But please, try to succeed where I failed. Use your powers for good, and not to satisfy your own ego. I'll leave you with that. Go enjoy your party."

At those last words, Endeavor turned his back so that Izuku wouldn't see the tears that began to fall down his face.

 _Five people dead._ _Sorry for everything, Izuku. I'm sorry for placing the burden of this power on you._

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's Chapter 7! I hope you enjoyed reading about the party, and I hope you didn't find the classmates' interactions to be too OOC.**

 **I really appreciate all the continued feedback I've been getting through reviews. Unless it's a low-effort message like 'this is horrible', I'll respond to any reviews you guys can throw at me.**

 **Chapter 8 should be out this weekend (probably Sunday). Keep an eye out! Next up: first day of classes!**


	8. Chapter 8: First Day in Class

**Chapter 8: First Day In Class**

(Edited on 8/28 for formatting)

* * *

-]-[-

"This is a big door."

"It's made that way so people with shape-altering quirks can enter it. Let's go in. We can't stand here forever."

Izuku heeded Shoto's command as he pushed the gargantuan door open. Despite having met most of his classmates, Izuku still felt nervous, as was customary for him on the first day of school. He'd still have to prove himself to his classmates and cement a good impression.

"Hey, Midoriya!

But that nervousness faded when he walked into the classroom and saw all the familiar faces looking back at him. There was Tsuyu, Kirishima, Sero, and everyone else! Izuku walked to his desk and nodded to his acquaintances on the way.

 _What was I afraid of? I already know these people. And they're all really nice!_ He arrived at his desk and noticed, to his left, a kid sitting and staring intently at Momo. She was trying to ignore him. Mineta. _Well, maybe not everyone's so nice…_

...At that moment, the door opened again, and Ochako stepped through and made eye contact with him.

"Izuku!" she shouted. "I never returned your sweatshirt from the party!" She walked over with a balled up article of clothing in her arms. "Here!"

 _It's Ochako, again. She looks cute in her uniform…_

Izuku realized he was staring at her legs and straightened up. _I don't want to turn into Mineta._

"Thanks," he responded, taking his sweatshirt back.

"I would have given it to you earlier, but I had no way of communicating with you. I wonder-"

"-If you're here to socialize, then get out."

The whole class turned to the source of the voice. It was a disheveled-looking man standing in the door's entrance. And he was climbing out of… was that a sleeping bag?

"This is… the hero course!"

 _This is our teacher,_ the class realized. They quickly quieted down and Izuku and Ochako found the way to their seats.

 _It took them less then a second to quiet down. Efficient, if not noisy._

Shota Aizawa was impressed. Not only was his class sitting intently and focused, but they also seemed to share some kind of bond. Aizawa prided himself on his ability to read people— in fact, his whole fighting style depended on knowing what an enemy was thinking and when they were going to attack.

Most first-year classes would have started to form cliques or rivalries on the first day, but the students in his classroom were… in harmony. Had they already had the chance to meet each other? It was possible.

However, the friendly vibes from the students weren't all-encompassing. Aizawa could already tell from their body language that the students were not fond of one child in particular— Minoru Mineta.

The minuscule boy had done well in the academic part of the UA entrance exam, but he passed the practical exam by a hair's breadth, and on a technicality, too. All the boy had done was blindly throw his detachable orbs and hope they immobilized a robot. Actions hardly befitting of a hero. And if he was unable to mesh with the rest of the class…

But it was still too early to determine the anybody's worth. That part could come later.

"Change into your gym clothes and go outside."

He would save his judgement for after. It was time for the Quirk Apprehension Test.

-]-[-

"There's the softball throw, the standing long jump, the fifty meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side jumping, the bench press, and the seated toe touch. You did them in middle-school, but this time, quirks are allowed. At UA, we assume that your quirks are extensions of your body, and we test you as such." Aizawa paused and looked over the student body.

"Midoriya. How far was your softball throw in middle school?"

Surprised to be singled out, he blurted: "Um… sixty-five meters!"

Aizawa tossed him the softball. "Now try it with no quirk restrictions. Just don't leave the circle."

"Easy enough." _I'll use a strong blast of Reject for this._ Izuku winded up his pitch and let loose, Rejecting the ball from his hand as he did so. The ball rocketed up and quickly soared up and out of view.

Aizawa looked at a handheld device and faced it forward. "556.9 meters." The class, minus Shoto and Bakugou, clambered in surprise.

"Amazing!" shouted Kirishima. "We really get to use our quirks, unhinged!"

"...Really? Do you expect these next three years to be all fun and games?" Aizawa's mouth widened into a grin. "In this exercise, the student with the lowest score will be deemed hopeless and expelled!"

The class began to murmur. _Can he really do that?_

Izuku looked around at the other students. He, Shoto, and Bakugou had trained for this, so they were safe. Ochako could probably be counted as safe with her super strength, too. That left the rest of the class. _Who could it be? Hopefully it will be Mineta, but it could be Toru or Kaminari, as well. They don't have physical enhancement quirks…_

Ignoring his students, Aizawa cleared his throat. "The 50-meter dash is first."

-]-[-

 **EVENT 1: The 50-Meter Dash**

"This will be easy," said Ochako. She stood on the starting line next to Ojiro. Sure, she wasn't going to perform as well as Iida did, the natural sprinter that he was. But with One for All, she could put up a good score.

 _First, I'll increase my chances by losing this dead weight…_ She started to pat her hands over her clothing.

"What are you doing?" asked Izuku from the sideline.

"Oh, I'm just degravitising my clothes. This way, they won't weigh me down."

Izuku nodded. "Pragmatic. You can improve your time by reducing the slightest of resistances…"

Ochako grinned. "Something like that… It's like I'm not wearing anything at all!"

"And START!"

With a lunge with One for All-powered legs, Ochako was gone before she could notice Izuku's bright red face.

"4.19 seconds," beeped the robotic timer.

 _Phew!_ Ochako restored gravity to her clothing. _Imagine my time with a 100% blast…_

-]-[-

 **Event 2: Grip Strength**

"Hmm, I wonder…" Izuku mumbled as he held onto the grip strength device. He powered up Attraction in his five fingers and pulled them toward each other. This way, the force from his quirk was added to his overall grip. After a few strained seconds, Izuku let go and clutched his wrist.

"259 Kilograms," toned the machine.

Izuku nodded. Good, but not as good as Shoji, who with his mutation quirk could literally grip with the strength of ten arms.

Momo, meanwhile, had created an industrial-grade vice grip that she winded up with ease as it crushed the handle of the device.

"You're at 1,000 kilograms," said Aizawa. "Stop now, please. Those things are expensive…"

-]-[-

 **Event 3: Standing Long Jump**

Next to Toru, Shoto stood at the edge of the sand pit, contemplating.

"If we're free to use our quirks as we please, then…" He placed his hand on the ground and formed an ice bridge over the pit, which he calmly walked over.

"Is that even allowed?" asked Sero, panting after having pulled himself across the pit with a tug from his tape.

"He's not touching the ground," said Aizawa.

Shoto walked for two minutes, increasing the length of the ice bridge until he reached the facility's wall. Then, he calmly stepped down.

"409 meters" said the machine.

 _I'd like to see anybody else in the class do better than that…_

-]-[-

 **Event 4: Side-To-Side Stepping**

 _I'll do fine in this, too,_ thought Shoto. He bent down and activated his ice powers, creating a slick surface on the ground and two ice walls from which he could push with either foot.

He stepped onto his ice contraption and pushed off with his right foot. He smoothly slid to the left, and then back to the right, quickly alternating his kicking.

"Who do you think is going to place first in the overall test?" whispered Mina to Kaminari.

"Not me, that's for sure." His quirk wasn't really useful for physical activity like this. "But I'm still doing better than Mineta…"

They looked over to the small-framed boy, who was still lying face-down in the sand pit from the standing long jump.

"I hope Aizawa wasn't joking about the expulsion thing," said Mina. "I'm uncomfortable being within a hundred-meter radius of that perv…"

Mineta jolted to his feet just as Momo was starting her jump. She stopped herself a few meters short of crashing chest-first into Mineta, who whimpered in disappointment.

"...Make that three-hundred meters."

-]-[-

 **Event 5: Softball Throw**

Bakugou let his arms hang loose as he stared down the open field in front of him. _This is my area of strength! I'll beat Deku, for sure!_ He couldn't lose here, though he wasn't sure if he could beat Ochako's score of infinity.

 _I'll add a bit of a blast to this throw…_

He heaved his arm, activating an explosion in his palm as he did so. The ball went flying out of sight.

 _Hah, I beat Deku and Shoto, for sure!_

"726 meters," said Aizawa. "A strong throw."

 _726? That's alright, I suppose. Though infinity would have been better…_

-]-[-

 **Event 6: Bench Press**

"Can you help me stack 500kg on the bar?" Ochako asked Izuku.

"500? You're crazy!" exclaimed the boy. He himself hadn't been able to lift any more than 90kg. Granted, his quirks weren't very well suited for this exercise, but to lift 700 kilograms would be… more superhuman than usual.

"Just watch and see."

Izuku obliged, and soon, the barbell was stacked with enough plates that it bended under the strain. He stood at the ready, waiting to spot her if anything went wrong. Ochako ran her hands over the weights.

 _I can negate about 200kg like this,_ she thought. _And I'll push the rest with One for All!_

But when she laid under the weight of the barbell and activated her second quirk, she started to feel sick. _Shoot! I completely forgot about my motion sickness!_

Izuku sensed her panic just as her arms buckled, and the massive weight fell dangerously close to her chest.

"Izuku," she moaned. "Help!"

 _Shit!_ Thought Izuku. _I can't lift this much!_ Thinking fast, he placed his hands under the bar and activated Reject. The bar was momentarily pushed upwards, leaving Izuku with enough time to pull the girl off the bench before the bar broke through it.

Ochako groaned, biting back a wave of vomit so she wouldn't sully the clothes of her friend. She shivered. _Stupid. I've never used so much of Zero Gravity and One for All at the same time! Does that mean I can't use too much of both quirks at once without getting sick?_

She stopped thinking and looked down at Izuku. "Thanks. You saved my life! Again…"

He coughed. "No worries. Lets just do it with less weight this time, and on a different bench.'"

She looked at the crushed wreckage of their old bench. "Sounds good to me. Let's go!"

"But first…" Izuku gestured to Ochako, and then back to himself. Ochako suddenly realized that she had landed on top of Izuku in a rather… compromising position. "Can you get off me?"

"Eep!" She jumped to her feet. "Sorry!"

-]-[-

 **Event 7: Seated Toe Touch**

 _This is where all those stretches with Endeavor are going to come in handy._

From his workouts, Izuku had developed a flexible body that could handle the heavy forces of Reject and Attraction. Now, he could easily touch his toes without any help from his quirk. But could he go any further? There was one way to find out.

He focused Attraction between his arms and toes and slowly pulled his them closer together. The backs of his legs screamed in pain, but he still pulled himself as far as his muscles could allow it.

He opened his mouth in a silent scream and stayed there for a moment.

"That's forty-one centimeters," Aizawa called out. "A record… for the boys."

Izuku watched Momo stretch out to the forty-five mark, and Mina next to her going even farther. Neither of them showed any sign of strain

"How do girls even do that?" Izuku asked himself.

"I have no idea," answered Shoto. "No idea at all…"

-]-[-

 **Event 8: Distance Run**

"Ooh," groaned Ochako as the class lined up at the starting line. "I was never good at endurance running…" The group would have to run seven-and-a-half laps for their three-kilometer run, and Ochako was dreading it.

Izuku looked back at her, puzzled. "Why would you need to worry about endurance when you can just finish fast with your strength quirk?"

"Oh," Ochako said. She still wasn't used to having One for All. "Right. I forgot about my powers for a second."

"Hey, Deku," growled Bakugou from behind them. "I did the math, and you and I are at about the same place, scoring-wise. That means that between the two of us, whoever wins is placing higher in the final results. You hear?"

"Yeah," Izuku said. "I won't lose to you!"

Ochako chimed in: "And I won't lose to either of you, either!"

Bakugou scoffed. "You?" She didn't look like much, even if she scored higher than him in the softball throw.

"Yeah!" She shouted.

The blond boy raised his eyebrows. Izuku could sense that he was impressed.

"Ready, go." Aizawa muttered. It took the Class a second to realize that it was time for them to start.

Izuku broke out into a run and Bakugou sent himself flying with an explosion. Ochako degravitised herself and kicked out with One for All. She only used 5% this time, to avoid straining herself and getting sick again. Seconds later, the faster students crossed the 100-meter mark.

Iida broke out ahead. Obviously. His quirk was very well suited for this sort of exercise. But Izuku and Bakugou were not far behind, with Ochako hot on their heels. These three traveled with long, bounding jumps. Izuku leaped with help from Reject, grappling forward by pulling himself back to the ground with Attraction. Bakugou, meanwhile, pushed himself forward with his explosions, and Ochako leapt with her super strength, travelling much further than usual with each hop thanks to her control of gravity.

When they hit the first curve, however, things became different. Neither Ochako nor Bakugou could leap forward without leaving the track, so they had to traverse the angular part with their feet on the ground. But Izuku was able to continue his long strides by Attracting himself to a center point and pivoting around it, similar to how a moon might orbit a planet.

 _Dammit,_ Bakugou thought. Thanks to this maneuver, Izuku came out of the curve a significant distance ahead of his two pursuers. But the blond-haired boy refused to give up, and he pushed his quirk even harder, ignoring the jabs of pain in his shoulders. By the next curve, Bakugou had caught up to Izuku, and Ochako trailed behind.

This pattern continued for the next six and a half laps, with Izuku pulling forward at the curves and Bakugou racing to catch up at the straightaways. Ochako only fell further and further back.

Now, they reached the last stretch. There was one-hundred meters to go, and Izuku was still ahead. Bakugou roared and pushed his quirk even further, quickly gaining on the green-haired boy in front of him.

 _At this rate, I'm going to lose,_ Ochako realized. _Five percent isn't enough!_ This was her chance to prove herself to All Might, Izuku, and the rest of the class that she could compete with the best of them. _I'm not going to be the next Symbol of Peace like this!_

She took a breath, crouched, and channeled 15% of One for All through her body. It was not enough power that her bones would break, but it was enough to give her a fighting chance against the boys.

She degravitised herself and pushed off from the ground, shooting up into the air like a bullet. At the apex of her jump, she deactivated her quirk and started to fall.

 _So much motion sickness… There's Izuku and Bakugou!_

Sure enough, Bakugou had caught up to Izuku, and both were in a dead sprint for the finish line. But Ochako was falling fast towards the two of them. Too fast.

In the last moment of the race, Izuku and Bakugou leaned over the finish line, only for Ochako to land in a heap right between them. Her face went dark green, and with a heave of the stomach, she started vomiting over the side of the track.

"Yuck," Bakugou said. He looked down to Ochako. "But you did better than I expected. Almost beat me, too."

"Did anyone even see who won between the three of us?" Izuku asked. "It was too close for me to tell."

"...I didn't see who crossed the finish line first," admitted Aizawa's voice. Izuku looked around… and, there he was: on the bleachers, wrapped up in his sleeping bag.

"So," Aizawa continued. "I'll say Izuku finished first because he had a higher score on the entrance exam. Bakugou, you finished second. Ochako's time really shouldn't count, since she immobilized herself at the end." He gestured over to Ochako's collapsed body. "If she did that against a villain in the real world, she'd be dead."

"You're giving it to Izuku?" roared Bakugou. "For THAT reason? The entrance exam has nothing to do with this! Couldn't you have used a measuring devi-"

"-It really is unfair, isn't it?" agreed Aizawa. He started to zip up his sleeping bag. "Now go. I need to get some rest before the slower ones come in."

Bakugou was going to shout some more, but Izuku put a hand on his shoulder.

"We both know it's BS, so let's call it a draw. We'll find a better chance for a contest later this semester, yeah?"

"...Yeah," Bakugou grumbled. "I'm gonna find a towel to wipe off this excess sweat. I wouldn't want to explode on anyone, now…"

Izuku nodded and turned to Ochako, who was still on the ground in a heap. She had been competitive with Izuku and Bakugou, but she had to immobilise herself to do so.

"Ah, well," she said, starting to scramble to her feet. Izuku offered a hand to her.

"You shouldn't go and fall like that. It's bad luck!"

-]-[-

 _Meanwhile, across campus…_

"That's some really nice running, guys! I freakin' love it! Please, continue to run with such passion and fervor! I'll see you soon!"

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu groaned. "That's the fourth time he's passed us!"

A boy was dancing in the air above them, propelled by jets of wind from his legs. And his stellar performance in the distance run was matched only by his enthusiasm about the whole matter.

"Inasa Yoarashi. Do you think he's taunting us on purpose?" Yosetsu Awase huffed next to him. "Or does he have absolutely no self-awareness?"

Itsuka Kendo shrugged. "This morning, he seemed nice enough, if not a little loud."

Kendo was a little more concerned about herself right now. She thought, at first, that her hand-enlargement quirk would have been no use in a distance run, but as she ran in the back of the pack with the other quirk-disadvantageous students, she was starting to reconsider.

 _What if I activated my quirk and used my hands like wings to make myself go faster? I won't lose anything by trying..._

"Out of the way, guys!" She enlarged her hands to twenty times their normal size. At first, they only increased her drag, but if she angled her hands in such a way and pushed back… she could push herself forward with small bursts of speed.

"Go, Kendo!" shouted Tetsutetsu as she broke away from the pack.

"Such PASSION!" shouted Inasa.

Awase groaned as he stepped past the 200-meter mark.

"How is he on his fifth lap already?"

-]-[-

"Now, it's time for the results," said Aizawa. He had crawled out of the sleeping bag and asked the class to stand at attention in front of a big screen.

"...Also, I wasn't lying about the last person being expelled."

The class started to murmur.

It technically wasn't the truth: he wouldn't have expelled the lowest-scoring student if he showed any promise.

Aizawa pressed a button, and the standings of the test popped up.

 **Ochako Uraraka**

 **Shoto Todoroki**

 **Izuku Midoriya**

 **Katsuki Bakugou**

 **Momo Yaoyorozu**

"That gravity girl won?" Bakugou asked.

Izuku nodded. "With her enhanced strength, she did well in every area of testing."

The names appeared one after another. And at the end…

 **Kyouka Jirou**

 **Toru Hagakure**

 **Minoru Mineta**

To Aizawa, Mineta seemed to be irredeemable. He was physically weak. He didn't click with any of the other students. And if Mineta stayed, Aizawa would have to deal with his constant harassment of the female students.

Maybe, a year ago, Aizawa would have let Mineta become a hero. But now, with All Might's retirement, the world was starting to become a more dangerous place, and the heroes-to-be of Class 1-A needed to work together to fill the power vacuum. It was clear that the other students strongly disliked Mineta, and so the boy's hero career was compromised right off the bat.

"On behalf of UA, I apologise for giving you false hope, Mineta. I saw your academic score on the entrance exam, and I know you'll be well-suited for any profession. But not heroism."

Seeing his name at the bottom, Mineta began to cry. He was going to be expelled from UA, his dream school.

"But I wanted to be a hero! I wanted to be cool…"

" _Then you should have trained your body to do more than fifteen-minute miles,"_ Jiro whispered to Kaminari.

Aizawa felt no emotion. Expelling Mineta was a logical choice. Better to crush his dreams now than halfway through high school.

But as the boy stood there weeping in front of his class, a few of the students started to feel bad for him. How cruel was it, to be accepted into UA's hero course and then mercilessly removed on the first day?

"...And I never got to touch Yaoyorozu's boobs!" he wailed.

And with those words, the class' sympathy for the boy dissolved.

-]-[

"Well, that was tough to watch," mused Kirishima, sitting in one of the common room couches. He was, of course, referring to Mineta's exit. The boy was bawling his eyes out after cleaning out his new bedroom, which he never got the chance to sleep in. As he walked through Heights Alliance, he had dropped a fair amount of posters of scantily-clad women, which Shoto was collecting and incinerating.

"Yeah," Izuku said, lost in thought. As the boy had left, Izuku had made the mistake of using Empathy to look into Mineta's mind. The boy had a torrent of emotions coursing through his head, and none of them were good: embarrassment, resentment, hate...

"At least he's gone before he can do anything creepy," said Momo. "I saw him eying everyone up. Even Toru!" She quickly added: "No offense, Toru. It's just that there's not much to see…"

"I get it," Toru responded. "And I agree: Mineta needed to go. Can't you see his posters?"

"I feel dirty just touching these," Shoto grumbled as he torched a picture of Mount Lady.

"See?" Toru asked. "Shoto respects women!"

Momo giggled. "Yes, he does! He respects us so much that he turned a pervert into a human icicle!"

The rest of the class laughed, without realizing who had come back into the room. Izuku saw him first, and he frantically motioned for his friends to quiet down.

"I'm here for my Mount Lady poster," Mineta sniffed. He was standing in the doorway, arms full of bags. The rest of the class went silent for a moment.

The silence was finally broken by Izuku. "It's… gone. We threw it away."

Mineta looked around at the faces of his silent classmates, and then at the pile of ash under Shoto's feet.

"I see."

And at that, Mineta turned around and walked out, feeling the smallest he'd ever felt in his entire life.

The rest of the class sat for a moment, not saying anything. They looked ashamed, but Izuku was feeling more nervous than anything. As Mineta looked around the room, Izuku could detect murderous intent radiating from the boy like steam.

 _Oh well, he's gone now_ , thought Izuku. He looked down at the notebook on his lap, where he had sketched out the basic design for his hero costume. _I wonder when we're going to wear these…_

His mind had strayed away from Mineta. For now.

-]-[-

All Might reclined in the teachers' lounge couch. His old bones needed the rest. _Is every day of school going to be this tricky?_

But at least the stresses of the day came with one respite: Ochako had placed first in the quirk apprehension test!

 _Looks like you're getting the hang of One for All, Ochako! But don't rest on your laurels yet; the real test begins tomorrow!_

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's Chapter 8!**

 **Sorry to any of you Mineta fans out there. I hope it didn't feel like I was bashing his character. But since it's a more dangerous world for heroes and everybody in Class 1-A dislikes him right off the bat, I figured Aizawa wouldn't see enough potential in him.**

 **But with Mineta gone, Inasa Yoarashi is here in Class 1-B! I figured that since Shoto wasn't as edgy as he was in middle school, he wouldn't have dissuaded Inasa from joining UA. Also, I'm wondering whether to use "Inasa" or "Yoarashi" for his name. So far, I've used the names I've seen used most (i.e. Ochako, Bakugou, Shoto), but I see both Yoarashi and Inasa used just as often as each other.**

 **I'll respond to any reviews you can send my way. I appreciate your feedback!**

 **(To RandomDude (guest), thanks for all your suggestions for combo attacks! I might end up using them later in the story when the characters have developed their respective quirks more).**

 **Next up is the first heroics class with All Might. And you know what happens there… It's probably going to be out on Thursday, as usual (I've settled into a Thursday/Sunday publishing pattern). Keep an eye out!**


	9. Chapter 9: Defusing the Bomb

**Chapter 9: Defusing the Bomb**

* * *

-]-[-

Izuku ran his fingers over the steel case that contained his suit.

 _Heroes should dress to look cool_ , All Might had told him minutes earlier.

Izuku hastily undid the latch and looked at the case's contents. When he was designing it, Izuku was thinking more along the lines of "practicality" than "coolness," but the support company in charge of the final design had added their own flair to the costume.

There were five interior compartments each with its own label:

 **Midoriya Shadow Bodysuit**

 **Midoriya Stealth Hood**

 **Midoriya Reflector Armor Plating**

 **Midoriya Sneakers**

 **Midoriya Lense Gauntlet**

 _Huh, they separated the suit into each of its subsections. This will make it easy to put on…_

-]-[-

Thanks to all the clamps and buckles on the thing, it took Izuku longer than the rest of the class to put his suit on. And although it covered most of his body, Izuku found the material breathable.

"That's a dark suit," Tokoyami mused when Izuku emerged from the locker room. "Nice."

Izuku nodded back, eyeing Tokoyami's pitch-black cloak. "Yours, too."

Tokoyami nodded in approval before walking towards another group of students, and Izuku looked down at his own costume.

It _was_ dark. In fact, Izuku had requested that the Uniform Subsidy use the darkest material available for the interior bodysuit and the attached hood. The exterior layer was a bit brighter— a set of dark green metallic armor that covered his chest, arms, and legs. The armor protected the delicate fabric underneath while leaving his joints open for movement. Izuku had easily embraced the green motif. After all, his green suit would aesthetically fit with his skin when it glowed.

And the suit worked well with Glow-in-the-Dark in more ways than one, as his classmates would soon learn.

"Is that your suit, Izuku?" asked Ochako, walking up to him.

She was wearing a skin-tight suit colored pink and black along with puffy-looking boots and bracers. _It compliments her body well_ , thought Izuku. _The support company must be full of pervs_. He had to struggle to keep his eyes above the neckline.

"Yeah, this is mine. It has a few tricks up its sleeves, so to speak…"

"You'll have to show me later! I was thinking, we could communicate better if we-"

She was interrupted when All Might coughed. He stood in front of the class in his weaker form, which everyone, save Ochako, was still not used to seeing.

"I see you've all changed into your hero costumes. Very nice." He shifted awkwardly on his feet.

"Contrary to what many of you might believe, the majority of hero-villain confrontations take place indoors, rather than on the streets. This fact has inspired our very first exercise: Bomb Diffusion!"

He explained the rules of the game, and that there would be two teams of two facing off against each other.

"We will determine the match-ups by drawing lots," he explained. "And since Aizawa has seen fit to expel a student already, there will be a team with only one person. Any more questions?"

Not even Iida raised a hand.

"Alright then." He momentarily transformed into his hero form. "LET'S GET STARTED!"

-]-[-

"Izuku!" shouted Ochako, turning to him. "We're on the same team! And…" she checked the team postings. "We're against Iida and... Bakugou. Shoot, that guy was scary…"

"He's nice on the inside," said Izuku. "He's really smart, too, and he knows a lot about my thinking and fighting styles. I trained with him, you see…"

"Ah, that explains why you two seem so familiar."

Izuku nodded. "I'll tell you what I know about him, and then we can formulate a plan. Don't tell Bakugou I said this about him, but…"

-]-[-

"When it comes to practical exercises like this, Izuku is a tactical genius. He has killer instincts, and he can analyse complicated situations as easily as you and I can breathe. He's a force to be reckoned with, and that's not even taking his overpowered quirk into consideration…" Bakugou continued to tell Iida all the details about his training partner. "...But don't tell him I said any of this, okay?"

Iida scratched the chin of his helmet. "He sounds like a tough opponent."

"Yeah, and you can bet he already figured out his plan. If we want to win, we want to keep them away from this bomb." He tapped on the comically large warhead. _Paper mache._

" **AND, BEGIN!"**

Iida puffed. "They're coming. Do you have any ideas?"

Bakugou thought for a second. _What would Izuku do?_

"In this mission," he started, "information equals power. The hero team needs to find the bomb, while we need to find the heroes. So the team that knows the most about the other team's strategy and location wins. Get it?"

"Yes," Iida said. "With my speed, I can scout the hallways ahead without having to worry about being captured."

"Sounds like a solid plan. Run around until you see something, and then report back to me. I'll stay here and protect the bomb. Don't take any risks, got it?"

"I would never." Iida nodded one last time and then took off. The idea worked in theory: if Iida saw either Izuku or Ochako, he could turn tail and run, and the villain team would be made aware of the heroes' positions. From there, the two villains could set a trap and disable the heroes before they could pose any threat.

 _Now, it's time to wait…_ Bakugou thought. He leaned against a window, but he couldn't quite get comfortable. Something was bothering him. _Izuku knows our quirks, so he probably has a fair idea of what we might plan…_ He shook his head.

 _Iida is fast and skilled enough that he'll be able to scout just fine._ He tapped the earpiece. _If there's a problem, I'll know._ He looked around the room, noticing a few empty metal crates. _For now, I can stack some of these boxes around the bomb for protection…_

A few minutes later, Iida's voice came through the earpiece:

"Bakugou, it's strange: I searched the whole place and found nothing. The heroes are nowhere to be found."

"Hmm." Bakugou started to think.

Iida continued: "They have to be here somewhere, right? Perhaps I can search again on my way back up, but more thoroughly this time."

"Okay," said Bakugou. "Do that." He couldn't think of any better options.

"Roger that."

But the doubts in the boy's mind resurfaced. _Maybe he's not in the building. From doing all those exercises with him, I learned one thing: Izuku thinks outside the box. And with his quirk, along with the girl's antigravity, they don't follow the normal rules of physics, do they? So why use a door when they can use a-_

Window! He whipped around, only to find himself face-to-face with Ochako through the pane of glass. She was floating in midair, and she wore wide eyes, like she had just been caught doing something wrong. Acting on instinct, Bakugou raised his hand and blasted the glass to smithereens, blowing the girl out of the air.

"Change of plans," he growled into the headset. "You can find Ochako on the ground below our room. Deal with her. Izuku has still yet to be found."

"Sounds good," said Iida. "Over."

-]-[-

"Oh no!" Ochako shouted as she fell. "He found me!" She activated Zero Gravity, and her descent slowed to a survivable speed.

Izuku sighed from his end. "There goes our plan to incapacitate him through the glass. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I have a few cuts from the glass fragments, but I'm otherwise fine." She softly landed on the ground feet first. "How is the breach coming along?"

"Good. I'm almost through, but I'm not sure if I'll be see-"

Ochako cut herself off from the communication so she could turn and face the rapidly approaching footsteps. _Iida._ Moments later, the armored boy was right on top of her, and she barely had time to deflect his roundhouse kick. She buckled under the weight of the blow and fell to the ground as Iida stood above her.

"Well, well, Ochako. Looks like we've found you, at long last."

"Ack!" Ochako scooted away from the armored boy, who had lowered his voice to a deep baritone. "You don't sound right, Iida. Are you doing a villain impression?"

"No." He stepped closer. "Anyway, we've found out your plan, so you might as well give in. We don't want to stretch this exercise for any longer than it needs to be, right?"

"Wrong. You didn't find out our plan. That explosion was just… a setback!" With those last two words, Ochako degravitised herself and punched out with 15% of One for All. Iida was knocked off balance as she shot backwards.

"I see," said Iida, holding up his fists and revving his leg engines. "Prepare to fight, then."

-]-[-

Bakugou's blood was still pumping from Ochako's surprise appearance and her subsequent fall, so he at first didn't notice Izuku hanging from the wall two windows over. It wasn't until he saw the bright green flashes through the window pane that he knew something was up.

 _What's that?_ The blond turned toward the source of the bright lights. _Is that Izuku's Glow power? In broad daylight?_

 _Shit,_ thought Izuku when he saw that he caught Bakugou's attention. _I need to work faster._

He was moving his wrists in an arc so his lasers could cut a hole in the glass in front of him.

Normally, Izuku would not have been able to shoot glass-cutting lasers, but he had his hero costume, now. The costume had been specifically designed to utilise the effects of Glow-in-the-Dark, even in broad daylight. It worked like this: the extremely dark undersuit allowed Izuku's covered skin to glow exceedingly bright, although nobody could see it. The bright light could then be channeled through Izuku's Lense Gauntlets. The gauntlets could function as flashlights, signals, or even intense surgical lasers.

The costume had even more features, like a 'hood' that Izuku could don to prevent his Glow-in-the-Dark from giving away his position, and lustrous armor plating that could reflect and amplify the light from his own skin. He even had his own utility belt around his waist.

But for now, to cut a hole into Bakugou's room, he used only his laser gauntlets.

At long last, Izuku brought his hands together to complete the circle, and he kicked the glass in. Throwing stealth to the wind, he jumped in after the circle and rolled to his feet. But before Izuku could dive for the faux-bomb, he was pushed aside by a huge blast.

"Fool!" shouted Bakugou. He fired another blast, and Izuku barely had the time to Reject himself out of the way. "Did you think I would miss those bright green lights?"

 _Shoot,_ thought Izuku. _He caught me off-guard!_ He looked at Bakugou and tried to read his opponent's next attack. _I'll need to calm down if I want to use Empathy._ But he barely had time to take another breath before Bakugou lunged at him again.

 _He's keeping me on my toes so I can't read him!_

"You caught me by surprise, there!" Bakugou yelled, throwing an explosion-powered left hook. "I had no idea you could shoot lasers. Is your glow power actually more useful than it seems?"

Izuku stepped back to dodge. "My suit lets me harness it, even in daylight!" He reached out with Attraction in hopes of pulling Bakugou closer, but he had to pull himself back when the blond sent another powerful explosion at him.

 _He's keeping me at a distance, too, where Reject is too weak to do any real damage!_

Bakugou reached down to a gauntlet of his own, which was crafted like a grenade. "I have a few new tricks, as well!" He held out his arm and stuck a finger in the grenade's pin. "As you know, my palms secrete explosive, nitroglycerin-like sweat. Well, that sweat can be stored, too. For an all-out attack!"

In this lapse of action, Izuku finally got the chance to focus Empathy on Bakugou's mind. But when the blond pulled on the grenade's pin, Izuku could detect only one emotion: confidence.

 _What's he up to?_

And then, Izuku's thoughts were cut short as the nitroglycerin ignited and an explosion consumed the room.

-]-[-

The monitor room went silent for a moment. Not even All Might could manage words. Bakugou's attack was so devastating that they could feel it from where they stood in the basement.

"Wha-" stammered Kirishima. "Why did he do that? Is Izuku dead?" Class A started to murmur.

"-No," said Momo. "It was an indirect hit, see? Bakugou was aiming at the ground, not at Izuku." Now that she mentioned it, they could see that the crater from the blast was on the ground, and not on Izuku's face. "And what's more, Izuku seemed to have dodged it."

As the dust cleared, yes, it was apparent: Izuku was not anywhere near the crater. He had seemingly flown over to the corner of the room the minute the blast hit.

Kaminari's eyes were wide. "Did he just… magnetize himself to the wall?"

Momo nodded. "That's his quirk in action. It's extremely versatile on its own, and that's not even considering his strange glowing powers..."

The class chattered as they discussed the mechanics of Izuku's quirk, but All Might knew better. He was impressed at Izuku's performance so far, and even more impressed with Bakugou for holding his own with only one quirk.

 _So that's Attraction at work. It's interesting how Izuku's been able to hide his abnormal abilities by 'combining' two quirks into one and dismissing Glow-in-the-Dark as a genetic trait. But he'll still have to hide Empathy and Sacrifice…_

"Hey," blurted Sero. "Something's going on with Iida and Ochako."

-]-[-

In the courtyard outside the building, Iida cringed when he heard the explosion four stories up. _If he's resorting to such a great level of power, Bakugou must be having a tough time up there. I need to finish this soon so I can help with the defense._

He stared at Ochako, who stared right back at him from twenty feet away. The two had been standing like this for a full minute. Iida hadn't been bothered by the standoff; better to keep Ochako down here while the heroes' time ran out. But now, it was clear he needed to do something.

 _I'll take her out with a swift and precise strike. It's time to use Recipro Burst!_

He revved up his leg engines, storing up potential energy that could be released in a burst of power. Ochako noticed something was going on and tensed up.

 _Is he preparing to sprint towards me?_

When Iida sprung forward, Ochako reflexively activated One for All and dove to the side. As the armored boy flew past with his legs oscillating furiously, she pivoted and tapped one of his calves' exhaust pipes. Before Iida knew what was going on, he was suspended in the air by Zero Gravity, legs flailing uselessly.

"Ach," he grunted. "You got me. Nice dodge!"

Ochako smiled. "You almost got me too! Such speed…"

"Yeah, Recipro Burst is strong, but I cant use it without my leg engines stalling for a minute or so." he waved his arms, trying to find purchase. "It looks like I'm stuck here…"

"Welp," Ochako said. "Sorry about that! But I must be going: there's a bomb that needs defusing."

-]-[-

Reeling from the recoil, Bakugou coughed and blinked away the smoke from his most recent blast. Much of the ground in front of him had been reduced to rubble. He looked down at his gauntlet, and then back to the destruction he'd caused.

 _This thing packs quite the punch! It wasn't a direct hit— I didn't want Izuku to die— but there's still no way he's getting up from this!_

But sure enough, Izuku slowly emerged from the blast, stumbling over the pieces of rubble.

 _Phew,_ Izuku thought. _Good thing I grappled to the wall at the last moment. Otherwise I'd be toast!_

"Izuku," barked Bakugou. The blond boy prepared another blast, but Izuku was faster. With a tug from Attraction, Bakugou's palm was redirected and the attack missed. But Izuku had to leap away when Bakugou followed up with another blast.

Izuku wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. _He's relentless, even with only one quirk! I need to think of a way to end this, fast!_ He leapt with Reject to avoid another attack. _I'll need to take advantage of my quirks' wide range of abilities…_

After a moment of deliberation, Izuku had a plan. _First, I'll wait for an attack…_

Izuku didn't have to wait long before he sensed Bakugou's aggression level increase. _He's attacking!_ Sure enough, Bakugou lifted his right palm towards Izuku in preparation for an attack. _Now, I can throw him off balance._

Izuku fired Reject from his left hand and Attraction from his right. The shockwave hit Bakugou just as he was pulled forward, and the force of the two blows spun him around.

 _Now,_ Izuku thought. _This is the perfect opportunity!_

He twisted a dial on his Lense Gauntlet and a concentrated beam of green light shot out— right at Bakugou's yet-to-be-detonated Grenade Gauntlet. The beam's heat instantly ignited the volatile material, and Bakugou was consumed by the resulting blast.

"Gah!" shouted Bakugou as he was blown into the ground. He was resistant to the knockback and heat from his own explosions, but this blast was powerful and unexpected.

 _Now!_ thought Izuku. He turned to the faux-bomb and leapt forward with a blast from Reject. When he toched the soft material, a buzzer sounded, and All Might's voice came over the radio.

" **PLUS ULTRA! And victory goes to the hero team…"**

"Dammit!" Bakugou shouted as he struggled to his feet. "I guess this is your win, Izuku. For now."

"Good game," Izuku responded. "I thought you had me when you pulled that pin. And you would have won if you pointed the blast directly at me…"

"...Yeah, but then you'd be crippled or dead. Take the win. I'll live." Bakugou managed a sneer before turning around and sulking out into the hallway. But a quick scan with Empathy revealed two emotions in the blond: devastation and self-doubt. Before Izuku could think of something to say, however, Ochako rushed into the room and wrapped Izuku in a bear hug.

"Izuku, you did it! I was worried when I heard the huge explosions, but you managed to do it anyway!"

"Y-yeah," Izuku stammered, still locked in the hug. Ochako took the hint and let go, but her body was still so close…

Izuku took a breath and continued: "And I take it by Iida's absence that you took care of him?"

"Yep!" Ochako realized something. "And he's still floating now…" She pressed her palms together to release Zero Gravity.

"Ow!" came a voice from the ground floor. "Be careful where you drop me!"

-]-[-

Ten minutes later, Izuku caught up to Bakugou in the locker room, where the latter was changing out of his dusty hero suit. The suit itself hadn't taken much damage— a testament to the durability of the fabric used. Izuku wondered if the costume was designed specifically to weather explosions, but he wasn't here to ask that.

"Bakugou, you weren't in the monitor room when I checked."

The blond puffed. "And neither are you. Don't you want to take notes on your classmates or something?"

"No." Izuku shuffled. "I wanted to talk to you."

"What do you want?"

"Well… I want to know what's wrong. It's obvious that you took that loss pretty deeply, and that you're disappointed in yourself. Trust me. You'll get another chance eventually-"

Bakugou slammed his locker shut. "I'm mad… disappointed— whatever— because I _tried_. I tried hard. I thought of the best plan I could, and I imagined myself in your shoes, but it still didn't work. And when we fought, I tried to overwhelm you, but you were still so quick to dodge. And that last attack, using my own weapon against me…" he sighed. "...It was genius. There was nothing I could do. How am I supposed to become the Number One if I get upstaged by my friend on the second day of school?" Bakugou opened his locker and slammed it shut again. "Useless!"

Izuku was at a loss for words. Bakugou had rarely showed his emotions, if ever. And now… it was not good. And what's more, Bakugou was right. There was nothing the blond could do. What use was one quirk against five? The odds were stacked against the boy from the very start. And Bakugou deserved to know that.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this._

"Bakugou…" said Izuku. "You lost… because you only had one quirk."

"What?" said Bakugou. "Of course I have one quirk! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

"...And I have five," Izuku continued.

Bakugou just stared. "What?"

"In the accident that killed my mother," Izuku explained, "there was a chemical spill. And I somehow gained the quirks of the five people that died there. Glow-in-the-Dark is one, and 'Polar Control' is actually two separate quirks-"

"I don't believe you," Bakugou grumbled. "You're making this story up so I can feel better."

Izuku shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Here. I'll show you." He gestured to the boy's arm, which had a few scrapes from the rubble, and then to his own arm, which was battered, but not as badly injured. He then placed his hand on the injured arm and activated Sacrifice. Bakugou's scrapes started to disappear and reappear on Izuku's own arm.

"If I only had one quirk, would I be able to do this?"

Bakugou just looked at his arm incredulously.

"That's crazy."

"I know."

They both sat in silence for a bit, side by side on the bench.

Bakugou started again."So that's four quirks that I've seen. What's the fifth?"

"Oh," Izuku's cheeks turned pink. "That's Empathy. I can use it to read people's emotions. It's part of the reason why I can predict everyone's attacks, and it's how I figured out that you were upset."

Bakugou's fists clenched. "So you're reading my mind?"

"Not exactly. I still can't tell your exact thoughts. Just your general feelings."

Bakugou relaxed a little. "With a power like that, it's a wonder you still can't talk to girls."

Izuku chuckled. "Yeah. Maybe I'm not using Empathy to its full potential. But imagine if someone like Mineta had it…"

Bakugou chuckled slightly.

"I swear I'm gonna kill that kid if I see him again…"

He straightened up. "Listen. Sorry about that self-pitying rant. Truth is, whether you have five quirks or a hundred, you still outsmarted me back there, and I won't stand for that. So, prepare yourself, because next time, I'm not going down so easily!"

Bakugou stood up and jabbed a finger in Izuku's face. "Remember, I'm going to be the Number One, so you and Shoto better start fighting for second place!"

And with that, he walked out of the locker room with a noticeable bounce in his step.

Izuku smiled. _There's the Bakugou I know._

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for Chapter 9! Glow-in-the-Dark is now useful, and Izuku got to fight against a more tactically-oriented Bakugou.**

 **I appreciate all the support! Please leave a review if you have anything to say!**

 **Chapter 10 will probably be out Sunday. Next up: the Class A presidential election and USJ! Keep an eye out. Things are starting to heat up...**


	10. Chapter 10: USJ

**Chapter 10: USJ**

(Edited on 8/28 for formatting)

* * *

-]-[-

 _ **Retired and Re-hired: All Might Finds Teaching Job at UA**_

"Bah," spat Tomura Shigaraki. He balled up the newspaper and reduced it to dust. "I hate newspapers. Even after the retirement, it's always the same thing, nonstop: All Might, All Might, All Might. It's pathetic."

"I agree; it's quite annoying." Kurogiri was cleaning one of their bar's many used glasses.

Shigaraki continued: "He's still pissing me off, as usual. The Symbol of Peace is getting off too easily, living the rest of his years in comfort and surrounded by respect."

"Indeed," said Kurogiri.

"So I was thinking:" said Shigaraki. "What if we showed the world how weak All Might really is?" He twirled in his chair, for effect. "If we could breach UA, a supposed 'safe haven' for heroes-to-be, and then kill some of All Might's students, the man would quickly turn from 'The Symbol of Peace' to 'The Man Who Couldn't Save Anyone.' And then, society's trust in UA and the Hero Hierarchy as a whole will start to crumble, leaving room for our newly-formed 'League of Villains' to take power. What do you say?"

"Hmm." Kurogiri pondered Shigaraki's words for a moment. It was true: if UA students were murdered at school, the overall amount of chaos in society would increase. And that chaos could be used by the League to leverage themselves into a position of power. But it would be difficult to execute such an attack with their ragtag group of common criminals.

"...Tomura, my student." It was a new voice. "You have learned well. An attack on UA is exactly what we need."

The two villains turned to the glowing monitor on the wall. Kurogiri bowed out of respect to his Master, who was surely watching.

"...Society is our greatest enemy, and what better way to fight Society than by turning the people against it? As such, I am trusting you to complete this mission."

"Yes, my master," said Shigaraki. "It will be done."

"But first," toned the monitor. "Come to the warehouse. I have… a gift. It is something that will help you complete this mission."

"The Black Nomu?" asked Kurogiri. "The monster that was created with the sole purpose of fighting All Might?"

"Well, there's that, but I have something else for you. Something better. You'll love them, trust me."

-]-[-

Ochako's alarm sounded at approximately seven o'clock in the morning. She shot to her feet, did a stretch, and then padded over to the communal bathroom for her morning routine. When she saw her zombified reflection in the mirror, she immediately started tidying up.

"It's the third day of school," she told her reflection. "Let's hope I can do just as well as I did on days one and two…"

"So, tell me about you and Izuku."

"Eep!" She wasn't alone in the bathroom. Ochako was so surprised that she almost activated One for All. "Mina! I didn't see you there." She tried to scooch away from the pink-skinned girl, but immediately bumped into something else.

"You're not going anywhere," started Toru, "until you answer Mina's question. Are you and Izuku a… thing?"

"N-no!" Ochako turned bright red. "We're just friends. We only met at the entrance exams!"

"I see," said Mina, unimpressed. "Friends. So how come you two 'friends' always seem to be falling over each other and generally being cute? Huh?"

Ochako was unable to answer as her face grew redder and redder. Sure, Izuku was, cool, nice, well-built, and cute, and he had strong quirk to boot. And the two of them spent a lot of time together, with both of them getting really flustered at moments. But Ochako wasn't sure if Izuku was interested in her. Better to leave it alone than to risk their new and delicate friendship, right?

"Don't worry," assured Toru. "We get it. Izuku is your territory, and we won't encroach. Right Mina?"

"Right."

The three girls silently finished up their morning routine and headed out into the girls' common room. The rest of them were waiting there.

"So, Momo..." Mina plopped down onto an empty couch, and the ponytailed girl turned. "Of the boys in our class, which one do you like the best?"

Momo pinkened a little. "Um, well… it's hard to say so early on in the year, when I hardly know any of them…"

"Nonsense. You _have_ to like somebody at least a little! Even Ochako admits she likes Izuku…"

"I did not!" squeaked the brunnete.

"-Well, then." Momo straightened up. "I suppose Shoto has shown many admirable traits. He's calm, he's collected, and… well, he froze Mineta into an icicle, which is a plus in my book."

"Excellent choice," squealed Toru. "I agree. He's so… mysterious!"

"...Which just means that he doesn't talk a lot," said Jiro. Five heads turned to her.

"So, how about you, Jiro?" prodded Mina. "Come on, now. Don't be shy..."

"Boys?" asked Jiro. "They're all stupid. Especially that idiot, Kaminari."

Mina laughed. "Oh, you're just mad that you two lost against Momo!"

Jiro's face flushed as she remembered the events from the previous day, when she and Kaminari had faced off against Momo's one-person team. "We would have won if he hadn't rushed in like an idiot and fried his own brain!" She wheeled on Mina. "How about you, Mina. Who do you like?"

Mina smiled. "Well, it's hard to say..."

" _Hypocrite,"_ muttered Jiro.

"On one hand, I know Kirishima from outside of school, and he's a loveable idiot, but I also think Bakugou is really cool. He's tough, and he's passionate, even though he lost yesterday. And his costume design is on point!"

"You aren't wrong there," agreed Jiro.

"Oh! Does that mean you pick Bakugou?"

"Whatever," said Jiro.

"So!" shouted Mina. "We have two votes for Shoto…" she pointed at Momo and Toru. "...two votes for Bakugou..." she gestured towards herself and Jiro. "...and one for Izuku." She pointed at Ochako, who had long since given up on protesting.

"...And, that just leaves Tsuyu." They all turned to face the girl in question. "Tsu, you've been quiet this morning."

"Yes," croaked Tsuyu. "Because I cannot answer your question. After only three days and one party, I don't know enough about any of the boys here to develop feelings for them."

"C'mon," groaned Mina. "You have to say something!"

"But if I say something now, it will be a lie. Do you want me to lie, Mina?" Tsuyu looked at the pink-skinned girl expectantly.

"...No. I don't."

The girls fell into silence. Tsuyu put up a good argument, even if she spoiled Mina's fun. _She's too serious. I'll have to watch out for her._

"Don't you feel uncomfortable," Ochako quietly asked, "talking about the boys like this and comparing their worth?"

"No," answered Mina. "Because right now, as we speak, they are probably talking about us in the same way."

"Really?" Ochako once more turned bright red. _Is Izuku thinking about me?_

-]-[-

"IF he can pull this off," bellowed Kirishima, "Izuku Midoriya is an ABSOLUTE MONSTER!" The other boys roared encouragement as they watched Izuku from their spots along the hallway's wall.

 _Alright,_ thought Izuku. _I can do this, if I'm calm._

The green-haired boy was standing at the end of the hallway, his back against the wall. Across from him was a small trash can, about twenty-five meters from where he was standing. He clutched a bruised apple in his hand, carefully judging the distance and the angle he'd have to throw it at.

"Go, Izuku!" shouted Sato, pounding two fists together.

"You can do this," agreed Sero. "We're all counting on you!"

Izuku smiled. He took a deep breath, winding up his throw. And with a swift motion, he threw the apple. It sailed across the hallway and landed directly in the trash. Izuku exhaled in relief. He did it!

"HE DID IT," roared Kirishima. "He hit his target twenty-five meters away!" The rest of the boys started to cheer.

"It's nothing big really," Izuku stammered. "I just hone my accuracy so I can use my Quirk more effectively."

"And with the precision of an olympic archer!" shouted Kirishima. The boys roared their agreement as they crowded around the flustered boy.

 _Well, I'm making friends easily,_ thought Izuku. _I wonder what the girls are up to…_

-]-[-

Aizawa walked into the classroom looking as exhausted as usual. Izuku couldn't help but be concerned. _Does he get any sleep at all?_ But when he tried to use Empathy on his teacher, Izuku found nothing. _He suppresses his emotions really well._

"I have the results from yesterday's training exercises. I was pleased to see there was nothing extremely wrong with any of your performances, so I'll move on to the next thing." He paused. "It's time for you to pick out your class presidents."

Aizawa sighed as the class burst into a commotion. All of these children wanted the recognition that came with being president, no doubt. But only the strongest could prevail. So far, he'd only seen a handful of students worthy of the presidency.

"The holder of this prestigious position should be left to the will of the students!" yelled Iida.

"What?" asked Kaminari.

"I'm saying, our leader should be decided by a democratic vote."

The silence turned into a soft murmur as the class discussed Iida's proposal.

"Yeah," said Izuku. "Let's do that. After all, is there really any better way to decide?"

"So it's decided," announced Iida. "Let's put it to the vote."

-]-[-

 **Izuku Midoriya - III**

 **Shoto Todoroki- II**

 **Katsuki Bakugou - II**

"What?" exclaimed Midoriya. "I have three votes?"

"And I have two?" asked Bakugou. He looked to Shoto. "Who voted for us?"

Shoto shrugged, but Mina eyed Toru knowingly. The pink-skinned girl might have been used to bad grades, but she was smart enough to know what happened.

 _I am pretty much unknown to the rest of the class, and so is everyone else, to be honest. But there were three people who have made an impression: Shoto with his party, and Izuku and Bakugou with their exceptional fight. Toru voted for Shoto because she likes him, and I knew Ochako was voting for Izuku. But Shoto's too aloof and Izuku's too awkward. Bakugou was the best choice out of the three of them, so that's where my vote went!_

"So our leader is decided," said Iida, blinking back tears. "Congratulations, Midoriya! But for me to have received zero votes…"

"That means you voted for somebody else, right?" Izuku gave Iida a sympathetic nod.

 _Yes, so I guess I should have expected this…_ For the entrance exam, Iida was in the same testing area as Izuku, and after watching him destroy that zero-point villain to protect Ochako, he knew where his vote would go.

Iida straightened himself up and cleared his throat. "Anyways, Shoto and Bakugou are tied for the vice president's position. So I propose we have another vote, with the ballot limited to just the two of them." He turned to Izuku. "President, do you agree?"

The green-haired boy nodded.

"Well then, let's commence another election!"

-]-[-

 _Oui, what a shame that nobody else realized the position was made for me! No matter; I will vote for the one whose ice can sparkle almost as much as my lasers can: Shoto!_

 _Well, I voted for Bakugou last round, so it only makes sense that I vote for him again!_

 _Ribbit! Shoto seems to be calm and smart, but he was so cruel to Mineta at the party and the dorm! A strong leader should not be so brutal, so I'll vote Bakugou, even if the blond has his own ego problems._

 _Shoto has been instrumental in forming our class' culture ever since he hosted the party. I'll vote for him_

 _Wow! I'm glad Izuku got the most votes! Bakugou has been treating me with respect ever since the distance run, so I'll vote for him._

 _Shoto's mind is always cool, even in heated situations. That's a quality I'd admire in a vice-president._

 _Shoto and Bakugou are both cool, so I can't decide. If I have to pick one, though, I'll help a fellow blond out and pick Bakugou._

 _Bakugou, for sure! He's so tough and manly…_

 _Bakugou scares me. Way too loud. So I'll vote for Shoto, then…_

 _Shoto stepped it up for sure when he confronted Mineta. I appreciate that, so he get's my vote!_

 _Yesterday, Shoto took the lead of our hero team and immediately secured our victory. I'd like him as our vice-president…_

 _It's hypocritical of me to say this, but with Izuku as the pres, we need a leader that's loud and assertive. Plus, he mentioned that he likes my drumset. Thus, Bakugou!_

 _Bakugou's a cool guy, and I don't really know Shoto. So, Bakugou, I guess?_

 _Hmm, a battle between the bright day's sun and the cold-hot night. It's obvious who wins this. The night always prevails._

 _My choice is obvious: myself, of course._

 _Shoto's so much more cool and mysterious. And I think he hates villains (like Mineta) almost as much as I do. I'll absolutely vote for him again!_

 _You bet I'm gonna vote for myself! Vice-presidency, here I come!_

 _This is tough. To choose between Shoto and Bakugou, my two closest friends… Bakugou's strong, and he's definitely more determined, but Shoto has those qualities, too, and he has his father's weight on his shoulders. Sorry, Bakugou, but I'm voting for Shoto._

 _As I told the girls back in the dorm, I like Shoto because he's calm and collected. I'd love to work under him some day…_

And at that, the votes were cast.

-]-[-

 **Shoto Todoroki - XI**

 **Katsuki Bakugou - VIII**

"The voting has been completed," said Iida. "And it was close, but Shoto has won the vice-president position."

 _Dammit,_ thought Bakugou. _I've lost three times in the first three days. Four, if you count the initial election. Step up your game, man!_

"It took you long enough," Aizawa grumbled as he crawled up out of his sleeping bag. "Now it's time for lunch."

-]-[-

"That mob of people outside is so damn annoying!"

"Language. But I agree; it's preposterous that the media should be such a bother at an institution of learning."

Bakugou and Iida looked outside at the crowd of reporters, who no doubt wanted to get a quote from All Might, or, as the students started calling him, Mr. Yagi.

Surprisingly to Izuku and Ochako, the two boys were getting along despite their personality differences. The four of them were sitting with Shoto, who sat eating his food in comfortable silence. Rice and spicy curry was on the menu, today; lunch Rush was spoiling the kids, as usual. They chatted about everything, from Izuku's stay in America to Iida's older brother, the pro hero Igneum.

"Tensei, I mean, Igneum has been an inspir-"

 ***REEEEEEEE!***

"An alarm?" asked Ochako.

 ***Level three security has been broken. All students, please remain calm and evacuate the premises!***

"It's an alarm," said Izuku. And before he could say anything else, the lunch hall erupted into pandemonium. First-, second-, and third-year students became one big wave that pushed itself towards the exit. Inevitably, the five Class A students became a part of that wave.

"Ohh, it's so crowded!" shouted Ochako as she was squashed into Izuku.

"Gah, die! Get back!" Bakugou had to be grabbed by Iida so he wouldn't blow apart the crowd with his quirk.

"We really shouldn't be panicking," Shoto grumbled as a fist slapped into the back of his head. "It's just a bunch of reporters that broke in, see?"

He pointed outside and Izuku saw it: the pesky 'journalists' were now on campus, having somehow broken through the UA barrier. But nobody else in the crowd could see it, so they were acting like there was an active shooter on the loose. _The crowd needs to be stopped, or someone will get trampled. Hmm._ He looked around. _Maybe I can try out a new move._

He raised his arm to the sky.

 **Crack!**

The mob of students heard the sound of muted thunder and felt cool wind pass over their heads. They turned to face the sound and saw Izuku, his arm raised into the sky.

"Everybody, calm down! It's just the media, so walk, please! We wouldn't want somebody to get trampled."

The crowd obliged, and soon, they were out the door.

-]-[-

"Toshinori," called Nezu, as they walked away from the police crowding around the dissolved gate. "Can you please come into my office?"

All Might's heart dropped at those words. Once he went into the office, he wasn't sure if he was going to come back out alive. The principal was notorious for carrying conversations on for way too long. Would he die of boredom first? Or old age?

But still, he grudgingly obliged, and followed the rodent up to his office, amused at the height difference between animal and himself.

When they reached the spacious office, All Might shut the door and turned to face Nezu. "It's a pleasure for me to be here and all, but you know I have a heroics course exercise to supervise, right?"

"Yes, yes," said Nezu absently. "But Aizawa and No. 13 have that covered. For the moment, I want to talk to you. Tea?"

All Might shook his head.

"Alright then." The human rodent poured himself a cup. "Have a seat. I was wondering how it feels, being among so many pro heroes when you, yourself, are incapable of heroing." Before All Might could respond, Nezu continued: "I, myself, sometimes feel self-conscious…"

 _Might as well make myself comfortable. This will take a while._

-]-[-

After the police came and arrested the trespassing reporters, Class 1-A found themselves back in the classroom, where they waited on Aizawa.

"Bad media," whined Kaminari. "They ruined lunch!" A few more hungry kids grumbled in agreement.

"By the way, Izuku," Ochako said, turning to face him. "You never told us about that thunder thing you did with your hand to get the lunch hall's attention."

"Oh, that?" The class turned to look at Izuku. "I attracted and repelled the air around me at the same time. When two sheets of air collided so fast, it created a wave of sound, which you all heard. The move is useful for getting people's' attention, but not much else."

"That's so cool, Izuku," said Ochako. The other girls shot each other knowing looks.

"So wait," started Momo, looking at Izuku across Mineta's empty desk. "Does that mean your quirk works on fluids, too?"

"Yep," beamed Izuku. "It works on all states of matter. I create my shockwave attacks by repelling air at extremely fast speeds. They work even better in water."

Before Momo could remark at this, Aizawa rose up from behind the podium. _Was he sleeping there?_

"It's the afternoon," he mumbled, clearly resenting the fact. "Which means that we will be moving on to the next stage of training: rescue training!"

 _Boring,_ thought Bakugou. _I want to fight!_

"Come take your hero costumes, if you want, and then get onto the bus, right outside. We'll be going on a short trip off-campus."

The students did as they were told, and they filed onto the bus, which was waiting for them outside of the main entrance.

"Mr. President," Iida started, arms gesturing wildly. "Is there a specific seating order you want the students to follow?"

Izuku waved his hand. "Call me by my first name, Izuku. And sit wherever you want. I don't care…" _Being president is easy! I can just let the students do their own thing…_

As he climbed onto the bus, Mina called out: "Hey, Izuku! I saved you a comfy seat next to Ochako. Enjoy!" The pink-skinned girl winked at Ochako, who glared back.

"T-thanks Mina," Izuku stammered. _What just happened?_ He reached out to Ochako with Empathy and found two emotions: embarrassment and confusion. But as he squished into the seat next to her her, he felt a third emotion, excitement, appear. _Strange girl_. _I wonder what that means..._

"So, Izuku." Ochako took a deep breath. "Rescue training, huh? You must be well-suited for it with your quirk."

"But not as well-suited as you are! Zero Gravity, combined with super-strength! The rubble doesn't stand a chance…"

Ochako was reminded of the building collapse that led to All Might's retirement. "Zero Gravity only works up to a certain point, though. I also need to be careful not to collapse a whole building by rendering one of the supports weightless…"

Izuku nodded. "I never even considered that! You know a lot…"

The girl blushed. "Yeah, well… my parents work in construction, so I've learned the basics…"

The bus arrived at its destination about ten minutes later. Izuku stepped off the bus and strained his eyes.

"Wow," said Ochako. "It's so big!"

"It's like Disney World!" agreed Kirishima.

"This is the USJ." Aizawa stepped down from the driver's seat. "The Unforeseen Simulation Joint. It's a facility that hosts many zones, each designed to simulate a disaster scenario. There's the landslide zone, for example." The class looked at a sloped mountain dotted with collapsed buildings.

A man wearing a spacesuit costume started to walk up the stairs. "Greetings, Class A!"

" _That's Number Thirteen, the Gravity Hero!"_ whispered Ochako. " _One of my favorites!"_

 _The Gravity Hero._ Izuku cataloged that factoid in his brain. Thirteen went on to explain his quirk, as well as its uses in rescue missions and its potential to kill.

"Hopefully, today you'll learn to use your quirks not to harm, but to save people."

And ironically, as if fate was trying to flip Thirteen's words on his head, the villains chose that moment to appear. Aizawa immediately noticed the black disk that materialized in front of the fountain, and the rest of the class was looking on when the masked Tomura Shigaraki stepped out of the portal, flanked by villains.

"The Symbol of Peace is gone," Shigaraki yelled to the thugs that flanked him. "And now it's time to bury him, along with his reputation and his students!" The villains cheered.

Aizawa called for the students. "Group up and stick together!" Then, he donned the goggles around his neck. Izuku wondered what they did. "Thirteen, protect the students! I'm going down."

The class clamored, unsure of what was going on.

"Is this an elaborate test?" Izuku asked, but Thirteen shook his head. Izuku could detect fear in the hero's head, and Izuku was deeply discomforted. If Thirteen, a pro hero, was afraid, then how should he feel?

Aizawa relayed instructions to the class, stepping up to the very edge of the cliff that led down to the fountain area. Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but the Erasure hero turned away. "I can keep them all at bay until help arrives. Remember this: no good hero is a one-trick pony."

And with that, he disappeared over the edge. For the first time, Izuku caught a hint of emotion from his teacher. It was faint, but it was there: fear.

Aizawa was afraid.

Shigaraki looked up at the greed-clad hero as he ran down the wall. "We'll handle this, easily. Warp-gate, can you take care of the students?"

"Certainly." The man's misty form disappeared and reappeared in front of the students at the top of the wall. Izuku and Ochako took a step back, and Bakugou clenched his fists.

"Greetings, students," he announced in a deep voice and a polite manner, as if he were a butler, and not a villain that was trying to kill them all. "Please forgive me, but I need to move some of you around to spread chaos. It's all in the name of a better world, you know-"

"Shut up!" Bakugou rushed forward, with Kirishima hot on his heels. "I don't care about your greater plans, or your ego!" The blond sent a blast at the misty form, and Kirishima followed up with a hardened punch. But the villain simply became… incorporeal, and their attacks missed.

"Close," chuckled Kurogiri. "But not close enough." He stretched his body out, and the two boys were dragged into it. When the mist cleared, they were both gone. Shoto stepped forward, but he, too, was consumed by the mist. Kurogiri came for Izuku next, along with Tsuyu standing next to him. Both of them disappeared. Then Kaminari, Jiro, and Momo went. Then Aoyama and Ojiro. Then Tokayami and Koda.

 _Shit!_ thought Ochako, her mind racing. _Where did Izuku go? And the others?_ The now-diminished group of students clustered closer together, facing Kurogiri. There was herself, Mina, Iida, Sato, Sero, and Shoji. And Thirteen.

"Iida!" Thirteen shouted. "I know you're Igneum's brother. You have superspeed, right?"

"Yes," answered Iida, pushing the glasses to his face. "Do you have a plan?"

"Indeed. Communications are down, and we need to get word out to the teachers, which means we need you to run back to main campus. But," he gestured at Kurogiri. "He'll just warp you away. That's his power."

"So what do we do?" asked Sero.

" _We_ won't do anything. _I'll_ keep him at bay." He flipped open a panel on his glove and nodded to the other paralyzed students. "I'll keep you safe, no worries."

Thirteen stepped up to Kurogiri's amorphous form and activated Black Hole. The Black Mist started to be sucked in towards his finger. "Run, Iida!"

 _I've got him!_

But Kurogiri was gone. Thirteen suddenly felt a searing pain in his back. Then, his chest split open. He screamed in anguish and looked down to see blood spilling down the front of his suit through a narrow slit in the fabric. He'd been stabbed from behind. _Gah! How did that happen?_ He opened his mouth to scream again, but blood flowed out and filled his helmet. The pain suddenly caught up to him, and Thirteen fell to the ground.

"Nobody's going anywhere," said Kurogiri, turning from Thirteen's dead body to face the petrified students.

 _Excellent! It looks like Invisible Blade works even better than Master said it would! Now that the chaos has been adequately spread, I can work on dispatching the students._

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's Chapter 10! RIP, Thirteen. What an unexpected turn of events! Well, unexpected for everyone but me.**

 **Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm glad to see so many people are enjoying this story. I'm sorry that it hasn't really been consistent with MHA Vigilantes Canon. I haven't had the time to read it, but I will when I get the chance!**

 **Chapter 11 should be out Thursday/Next Sunday, depending on its length. Keep an eye out!**


	11. Chapter 11: Don’t Call Me Tsuyu

**Chapter 11: Don't Call Me Tsuyu**

(Edited on 8/28 for formatting)

* * *

-]-[-

When Todoroki opened his eyes, he was no longer standing in the USJ entrance, but rather on the dirtied remnants of a collapsed building. Even from up close, it looked like the real thing, but when Todoroki saw the glass dome above his head, he figured it was not.

 _Hmm, so I'm still in the USJ. I must have been teleported, just like Kirishima and Bakugou._

"Hey, look, guys!"

Todoroki sighed and turned to face the voice. It was a gaunt man with bright blue crystalline hair, flanked by other villains.

"Kurogiri sent us a victim! Let's get him!"

The mob of villains started walking towards him, bunched together, and Todoroki placed his palm on the ground. _You're really not making this difficult, are you?_ He activated his ice powers, and in a flash, the villains were stuck fast to the ground.

"W-wha?" croaked the lead villain.

Shoto ignored him and walked past. _Small fry._ "Any of you could have taken me out with a ranged attack the minute I landed here, but you decided to stumble towards me like idiots. Did you even consider a sneak attack?" He eyed a particularly weak-looking thug shivering in the cold and walked over to him. "You don't look like much. No way you had anything to do with planning this thing. So tell me; who is in charge and what do you know?"

"Nomu will kill all of you," spat the villain.

"Wrong answer." _Nomu? That's a new name… is he the ringleader of this circus?_ He made a mental note before placing his left palm on the thug's forehead. "What's your name?"

The thug blinked. "C-Chainsaw."

"Chainsaw?" Shoto looked down, and sure enough, the man's arms were replaced with chainsaws. It took all of Shoto's inner stoicism not to burst out laughing. "No matter. You look dumb, but I've assumed you had a high-school education. Do you know about freezing and thawing?"

The thug shook his head, or tried with the one degree of motion he had.

"Tsk. I expected better from you. Basically, when water— in this case, your body's— freezes, it expands, ever so slightly. And when it melts again, it leaves little cracks in the surface it's occupying. Alone, this doesn't change much, but when it happens over and over again…" Shoto activated his heat momentarily, melting the ice around the villain's face. "...it makes cracks. Tell me, Chainsaw, do you want me to make your whole body _crack_?"

Chainsaw shook his head again.

"Good. Now tell me your plan."

Shoto thawed the villain's ice and the thug gasped a sigh of relief. "We wanted to scatter some students and cause some chaos. We hoped we could bury All Might while we were at it, but he wasn't here."

Shoto nodded. "And then?"

"And then, when all the present students and teachers were killed or missing, we would warp out of here, and leave the media to tell the story."

"Thank you," said Shoto. "You're free to go."

As Chainsaw scampered away, Shoto sighed again. _So their escape plan hinges on the warping villain. I'd go for him first, but they aren't going to need to escape until we're all dead. I ought to help the other students out, but I don't really know where they are. So I'll help Aizawa. Nameless thugs or not, he can't fight them at once._

"You're leaving the villains here? What a shame."

Hearing the voice right behind him, Shoto activated his left side and whipped around, only to find… nothing.

"Though I guess it would be… unheroic to just let them crumble." Shoto relaxed. It was Toru's voice.

"Yeah, I figured that. Can you… step back, please?" From where her voice was coming from, it felt like she was right on top of him. He heard a soft crunch in the ground. "Thank you. It's nice see you're safe, but I really must be going now." He turned his back and started to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going? The entrance is that way!"

Shoto looked over his shoulder. "You know I can't see where you're pointing, right? And I'm going to the fountain area."

"The fountain? But that's where all the bad guys are!"

"I know."

-]-[-

In the blink of an eye, Bakugou was no longer running towards Kurogiri at the entrance. Instead, he was running towards an astonished pack of villains in the crumbling remains of a ruined building.

 _Huh_. In a millisecond, Bakugou took it all in and realized what he had to do. He ran straight past the nearest thug and blasted him with an explosion. Carried by the momentum of his own attack, he shot past the next villain and repeated the motion. The blast knocked the wide-eyed thug over, and Bakugou was spun fist-first into the next villain, who collapsed.

Kirishima looked on in a daze, still recovering from the sudden shift in his location. _Did Bakugou just fell three villains in three seconds? He's tough!_

"Hey, Kiri-dude!" shouted Bakugou. "Are you just going to stand there gawking, or are you gonna help?"

The red-haired boy snapped to his senses. "Be right there!" He dusted off his costume's pants and jogged after Bakugou, who had already engaged with the next villain.

As Bakugou blasted his combatant away, a villain with knife-like fingernails lunged for the boy's back, but Kirishima put himself between them before the attack could land. The fingernails broke off on the boy's hardened chest, and Kirishima finished off the howling villain with a punch to the face.

"Good work," said Bakugou. "We got all the thugs on this floor, but…" he motioned to a half-intact staircase leading down. "There's gotta be more in the building."

Kirishima held both of his palm up before Bakugou could move any further. "Hold. On. A. Second! Let's stop and think: what the hell is going on? I mean, we were at the entrance, and now we're in this… ruined building surrounded by people who want to kill us!"

Bakugou shrugged. "Must be some sort of evil plan." He started walking down the stairs. "Are you coming, or not?"

"You bet I'm coming! But all of this is so sudd-"

"Shh!" Bakugou suddenly came to a halt. "Look."

Kirishima got right behind Bakugou and looked over the boy's shoulder. There was a group of ten villains huddled in a conversation, apparently unaware of the students' presence. Perhaps Kirishima and Bakugou had taken out the first wave of villains too fast to trigger any sort of a response.

"I can see thrm," said Kirishima. He looked from the villains to the blond. "How should we play this?"

Hmm. Bakugou pondered for a moment. "Normally, I would go in guns-blazing for maximum surprise impact, but if you feel like that's too dangerous-"

"Sounds like a plan. And it's not dangerous at all! Remember my hardening power?" Kirishima's body went rigid as he activated his quirk.

"Yeah, I do." Bakugou grinned. He had a new plan. "So in that case… brace yourself!" He grabbed Kirishima by the shoulders and threw him towards the villains before blasting the boy with his quirk. Kirishima got the idea and folded into a dense and compact crouch. He flew at the cluster of thugs as if they were bowling pins.

He struck the closest villain at full force and blew a path through the rest. After the initial collision, they fell like dominoes. And before any of them could get up, Bakugou was on top of them, blasting them with concussive force. Soon, all the villains were down for the count.

"Are they all down?" Kirishima stepped up to his feet, shaking off the impact from the collision.

"Yeah. I took care of all of them in the wake of your destruction. They'll have a few broken bones and a massive concussion when they wake up, but don't think I killed any of them."

Kirishima looked over all of the unconscious bodies. "Okay. So what do we do now?'

Bakugou looked up. "We go to the center, help out Aizawa, and try to take out their means of escape."

"You mean that warp gate guy? But we couldn't even touch him!"

"I know," Bakugou growled. "But there's a way. Remember, right before we were moved here, when Kurogiri said we were 'close' and dodged our attacks? He has a body he needs to protect, and that means we can hurt him."

Kirishima nodded, taking it all in. They started their walk to the center fountain, where Aizawa was surely still fighting against the core of the Villain Alliance.

"And Kirishima?" Bakugou asked.

"Yeah?"

"We worked well together."

"Definitely!" Kirishima nodded his head up and down and Bakugou smiled. The kid was dependable, if not as strong or smart as Izuku and Shoto were. And Kirishima was resilient, too. It was nice, for once, not worrying about harming his allies with his own quirk. Fighting against Izuku, he had to keep his explosions' power levels down so he wouldn't permanently harm the boy, but with Kirishima, he didn't have to hold back.

And Bakugou despised nothing more than holding back.

-]-[-

Ochako could only watch on, speechless, as Thirteen was stabbed through his suit. But the "thud" that sounded when the hero hit the ground broke Ochako out of her trance. Against all common sense, she ran towards the fallen hero, desperate to do anything.

 _I have to help him!_

When he saw the girl move, Iida realized what Ochako was trying to do and he became unfrozen as well.

"Ochako, no!" Don't go near-" His words caught in his throat when Kurogiri once again disappeared into the mist.

 _Where?_ Ochako's eyes darted around, looking for signs of the villain. Just then, a quiet noise sounded, and the black mist reappeared directly in front of her. The yellow glow of Kurogiri's eyes filled her field of vision, and she stopped in her tracks and looked down to see a disturbance in the air between them. _What's that?_ She didn't have time to react before the tip of Invisible Blade pierced her chest.

"Ungh!" She closed her eyes, preparing to be stabbed through like a kebab, but when she opened them, she was on her back, ten meters away. Two strands of tape detached from her shoulders, and a helmeted boy was leaning over her.

"Remember Aizawa's words!" Sero shouted. "We need to _stick together_!" _No pun intended,_ he thought. He kept those last words to himself, though. The situation was too dire for jokes.

"Sero," Ochako grunted. "Thanks for pulling me out of there!" She started to climb to her feet. "Ahh!" She clutched her chest; her new cut was bad. It was a deep gash, right over her heart, and Ochako knew it could have been much worse. "You're right, it's just... everything is happening at once."

"I know," said Sato. The big boy was shaking in his boots as he looked over at Kurogiri, who was floating about thirty meters away from them, unmoving.

"And did you guys see that?" Ochako turned to the others. "He cut me without even touching me, the same way he cut Thirteen!"

"Yes," said Iida, his voice grim. "I did see that. It seems we are dealing with a deadly force. We must treat this situation with the utmost care!"

"So, what, do we just wait here for the villains to kill us?" Panic had started to creep into Mina's voice, and no one could really blame her. They had all just watched a pro hero get murdered before their very own eyes.

"I did not say we'd wait here." He gestured at Kurogiri. "If we wait, we die, for sure. No, we need to obey Thirteen's last orders and escape to notify the teachers. Only then will we be safe."

Sero threw his hands up. "So, what do we do? You saw him teleport: we can't outrun him! And we can't hold him down without getting stabbed, either!"

"Maybe that's true." Iida calmly stroked his chin, though it took all of his strength not to lose his composure. Since the President was gone and everyone else was in panic, he was the de-facto leader, and it was up to him to make a plan. And they'd need a damn good plan if they wanted to escape.

Iida thought and thought, but he only had one good plan, and it was risky, not only to him, but to the other students as well.

He turned to the tentacle-armed boy, who with his many appendages seemed to be the most dexterous of their team. "Shoji, would be willing to get in close to the villain, if only for a second?"

Without hesitation, the quiet boy nodded. "Yes, if it ensures our survival."

Ochako opened her mouth to protest, but Iida shot her down.

"Uraraka, you need to keep pressure on that wound. You've lost a lot of blood." She nodded, and Iida turned to the rest of the group. "Okay: here's the plan…"

Kurogiri watched on in amusement as the students broke out of a huddle. _Are they really going to try an escape plan? Don't they know that they'll get cut if they come anywhere near me?_ So when two students broke for the door, Kurogiri simply stretched his shoulers and cracked his knuckles. One of them had strange, tube like extensions from his calves, and the other seemed to be clutching something in his myriad arms. _I'll get them._

And in an instant, he was right in front of the boys. But Iida and Shoji didn't stop their sprint.

"Shoji, now!" yelled Iida. And the boy unwrapped his tentacles to reveal a quadruple-jointed arm clutching something in its hand.

 _What the..._ Kurogiri dove down to put Shoji within his new quirk's striking range, but Shoji's arm reached up for the villain's exposed face. _Gah!_ Kurogiri lashed out with Invisible Blade, and it came into contact with something, but Kurogiri couldn't see what it was, since he was suddenly blinded. He reached for his eyes and felt something smooth. Was it… tape?

By the time he cut through it with Invisible Blade, it was too late. He opened his eyes to see the engine-legged boy escape through the front door. _Shit!_ The one with the tentacle arms was on the ground, clutching the stump that once was his arm. Kurogiri was tempted to finish him off, but he and Shigaraki were running out of time now that a student had escaped.

He looked behind him at the frightened students. With Warp Gate and Invisible Blade combined, he could finish them off without them knowing what hit them. But close-quarters combat was far too risky; if Kurogiri's opponent took an unexpected step right before he teleported, he might phase into the opponent and kill them both.

 _I'll leave them for now, and I'll regroup with you, young master. We might need to make a quick exit…_

-]-[-

After Kurogiri struck, Izuku re-materialized ten meters above a large body of water. Before he could process anything, he was submerged, and falling fast, weighed down by his metal armor plating. As he sunk, Izuku took in his surroundings. _I'm definitely not where I was five seconds ago… I suppose the wisest course of action would be to get myself out of here. Reject!_

A couple of blasts from Reject later, Izuku flew out of the water like a rocket. From up high, he could see more of his surroundings. _There's the USJ dome, which means I'm above the Flood Zone right now._ He noticed a few shapes in the water. _Are those… the villains? Yes, what else can they be? I'll land on that boat, where I'll have the advantage of the high ground._ With a tiny blast from Reject, Izuku altered his airborne trajectory so he was falling towards the sleek yacht. Normally, a fall from his height would have been deadly, but Izuku slowed his descent by Attracting himself to the dome above him.

"Hey, there's a kid!" shouted a shark-toothed villain.

"He's heading for the boat. Let's get him!"

 _They're coming_. Izuku landed on the boat's hull with a soft _thud._ Even though it was a prop used for rescue exercises, it felt like the real thing. _UA doesn't spare any expense, do they._

"Midoriya, it's nice to see you're alright."

Realizing he wasn't alone on the boat, he whipped around to face the frog-faced girl from his class. "Oh, hello, Asui- I mean, Tsuyu." He corrected himself at the last minute.

"I was going to help you out of the water," she croaked, "but it looked like you had it handled yourself."

Izuku smiled. "It's the thought that counts." Their attentions were both diverted from each other when something struck the bottom of the boat. "Villains."

"What are we going to do about them?" Tsuyu sounded nervous.

"We fight back, I guess." Izuku started for the edge of the boat.

"Wait-" Tsuyu started, but her warning came too late, for a strong jet of pressurized water came flying at Izuku's head. But even though the jet was traveling at a racecar's speed, Izuku easily dodged it.

 _With Empathy, I can read eleven villains total, all of them scattered in the water outside our boat. They are all directing strong killing intent, towards us. I wonder what makes them so angry…_

"You dodged it," Tsuyu said, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, I was lucky, I guess." Izuku didn't want anyone to be too suspicious of his superhuman instincts. "But I have an attack just like the villain's." He focused Attraction on the water, and a tiny globe came out, just large enough to coat Izuku's hand with water. "Remember how I told Momo about how my Quirk works on fluids, too?"

Tsuyu nodded.

"Well, watch!" He held out his right index finger and focused Reject into the small point. When he unleashed his quirk, a bullet-sized blob of water shot out from the tip and towards the nearest villain. The liquid projectile shot out so fast that the thug blacked out before he even realized what hit him."

"What was that?" Tsuyu asked, her voice rising.

"Oh, I just repelled a small amount of water from my hand. It was so tiny that it reached the speed of a bullet. It probably didn't kill him, but it sure knocked him out." He shot another projectile, this time from his thumb. "See?"

Tsuyu's eyes narrowed. "I SEE it, for sure. But you knocked them out in the middle of the water. They are going to sink and drown!"

"Tsuyu, they're villains!" _Just like the one that killed my mom._ "They are attacking us as we speak!"

"I know, but can't we do this non-lethally? Heroes don't kill, or else they become just as bad as the villains!"

 _That can't be right._ "You haven't seen what I've seen. It's a kill-or-be-killed world." His mind wandered back eleven years, to the time when Psychokiller was reaching down for him, and when he used Sacrifice for the first time to save himself, killing the villain in the process. Remembering Psychokiller's shocked expression, Izuku smiled a little as he fired another projectile from his little finger.

"Izuku, stop!"

The green haired boy wheeled on her. "I'd rather avoid killing people, too, but I can't think of any better way to incapacitate them right now. Do you have one?"

Izuku took Tsuyu's silence as a _no_ and fired the water projectiles from his other seven fingers. Each bullet hit it's mark, and the KO'ed villains sunk down into the water.

Tsuyu shook her head and leapt onto the yacht's railing. "I don't like it when you ignore me, Midoriya." She hopped into the water. "I'm going to try to help the people on the bottom."

"Wai-" shouted Izuku, but she submerged herself. _There's still one morethug down there!_

Tsuyu dove deeper, making out the ten fallen villains through her goggles' lenses. Then, she felt a cool shadow loom over her. She turned around, only to find herself facing the extended jaws of a shark-like human. But before she could fight back or swim away, she felt herself being pulled up out of the water. She gasped for air when she surfaced, and felt a set of arms pulling her back onto the boat. It was Izuku.

"Izuku," she gasped. "I was trying to save them."

"Yeah." The boy grunted as he pulled her onto the deck. "You were trying to save _villains!_ And you almost got yourself killed in the process!"

The sharkman resurfaced, but Izuku shot him down with another water bullet.

"I could've handled it. In fact, I can still-" she tried to break free of Izuku's arms. "I can still save them from drowning!"

"Do you really want to pick up ten bodies up from the bottom of the lake?" Izuku shook his head. "No, there's not enough time to help all of them. They were trying to _kill_ us students, remember? Let's go save somebody who's worth saving, like Aizawa, who's overwhelmed right now."

Tsuyu fell limp. She had given up fighting the boy, who was making too much sense. But why did his methods have to be so cruel?

"Are you okay, Tsu?"

"I'm fine. Let's go save Aizawa." She stood up and walked to the end of the still-intact yacht.

She turned. "And Izuku?"

"What?"

"Don't call me Tsuyu. Call me Asui."

Izuku scratched his head "...but I thought you wanted your friends to call you by your given name.."

"That's right. I do. But you're not my friend."

And at that, she dove into the water, not really ready to face whatever was waiting for them in the center of the USJ.

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's the end!**

 **So, PoF!Izuku's hate for villains is coming into conflict with Tsuyu's "be better than them" attitude in the worst way imaginable. Don't think this clash of ideals between the two heroes is over yet.**

 **And the whole arc's coming down to the final battle in the Central Plaza. The League of Villains elites now have multiple quirks, and Nomu's there, too. And All Might is in no shape to help…**

 **I hope you enjoyed! Keep an eye out for Chapter 12. It will probably out on Sunday.**


	12. Chapter 12: Monster Trio versus Nomu

**Chapter 12: Monster Trio versus Nomu**

(Edited on 8/28 for formatting)

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-]-[-

It wasn't until they were halfway across the lake that Izuku remembered he had Empathy. He didn't need his quirk to know Tsuyu was hurt by his actions— her sharp words and sulking demeanor were enough to show something was wrong. He knew he could have treated the disagreement on the boat with more tact, but at the time, he was more focused on the villains than his classmate's feelings. The use of Empathy only confirmed Tsuyu's feelings toward him: she felt hurt and defeated. Not the greatest emotions for someone walking straight into battle.

 _I was too harsh on her back then. If I had stopped to hear Asui out, or if I had thought out an alternate plan, I wouldn't have alienated her. I was in the right, obviously— the villains didn't deserve our help, and it would have been risky for us anyway— but she still resents me. If we're going to save Aizawa, we need to work together._

But he didn't say anything. _Better to keep my mouth shut than to accidentally anger her by explaining myself._ So he continued wading through the flood zone in silence, Tsuyu a few steps ahead of him.

After another minute's walk, the central fountain came into view.

"Izuku," Tsuyu croaked. She stopped in her tracks and pointed. "This doesn't look good at all."

Izuku stepped up to where she was standing. "Oh."

He was expecting for Aizawa to be having trouble, but this was something else entirely. A massive, hulking villain with dark skin and an exposed brain was standing over their teacher. If his smashed-in face wasn't any indication, Izuku could tell that Aizawa was, without a doubt, completely and utterly defeated. Shigaraki was standing over the teacher's fallen body, apparently to gloat.

"Quirk-cancellation is a cool gimmick, but it's got nothing against Nomu's super strength. You're nothing but a fly to him."

Aizawa couldn't answer, because just then, Nomu lifted the teacher's head up and slammed it into the ground.

 _Shit,_ thought Izuku. _That's going to leave a nasty concussion, if it doesn't kill him outright…_

Shigaraki chuckled. "I'm enjoying this a lot, hero. We might as well make this as long and drawn-out as possible…"

But at that moment, a dark cloud of mist materialized above the fountain, and the warp gate villain from earlier appeared. Shigaraki turned away, forgetting about Aizawa for a moment.

"Kurogiri," said Shigaraki. "Is Thirteen dead?"

"Yes, young master. Undoubtedly. But one of the students turned out to be faster than I bargained for, and he escaped. Please forgive me.

Shigaraki didn't say anything. Instead, his head twitched, and he brought his fingers up to his neck and scratched it, as if there was some phantom itch that he couldn't dispel.

"Why, Kurogiri, didn't you cut them all down with your new Invisible Blade?"

"It was a grave error on my part, master. And after the boy escaped, I wanted to report to you immediately."

Shigaraki lowered his arms and moaned in frustration. "Kurogiri, you're lucky you're our ticket out of here. Otherwise, you'd be dead." He shifted on his feet and sighed. "But no matter. We will escape. But not without leaving behind a few dead students!"

At that, he wheeled around to face Tsuyu and Izuku, who were watching from the shore. _Shit,_ thought Izuku. _I thought he couldn't see us!_

Killing intent flared from within the villain, and Izuku, who had Empathy active, prepared to dodge. But Shigaraki wasn't aiming for Izuku. In a flash, the villain was right on top of them, and Izuku could only watch in slow motion as Shigaraki reached down with an outstretched hand, right for Tsuyu's face. The girl didn't have any time to react. But when the hand touched the skin, nothing seemed to happen. Shigaraki began to chuckle.

"How very persistent of you Aizawa. You erased my quirk!"

Izuku looked up at his teacher who, despite having been beaten half to death by the Nomu, was looking up, unblinking.

"...But you erased the wrong quirk. It wasn't your fault, though. You had a 50/50 chance of getting it right…"

The following silence was broken by Tsuyu's scream of anguish. There, in the spot directly under Shigaraki's hand, her skin was starting to crumble away.

"No!" yelled Izuku. The villain turned to face him, extending his free hand towards Izuku's face, but Izuku's hand got there first.

 _REJECT!_

It was a direct hit, and Shigaraki was sent flying. The villain landed in the flood zone water, about one-hundred meters out. But Izuku didn't have time to celebrate. Tsuyu was on her knees now. Her scream had gone hoarse, and her face was dripping blood from the five points where Shigaraki's fingers had touched her face. Her whole head looked like it had been through a meat grinder. Twice.

"ASUI, NO!" Izuku caught her before she hit the ground. She was limp now, probably fainted from the pain.

 _Ohnonono, this is a bad injury… can I use Sacrifice to help her? No, that would just cause my own face to disintegrate, and there's still villains here-_

He looked up just in time to see Nomu's fist coming right for him. He channeled Reject through his feet to dodge, but with Tsuyu in his arms, he was too slow. The fist barely grazed his face, but it felt like getting hit by a bullet. Izuku was spun around by the pure force of the attack, and Tsuyu was wrenched from his hands by the inertia.

"Ungh!" Eyes blurry, he staggered to his feet. _What was with the pure force of that blow?_

He reached out towards Nomu with Empathy, only to find pure, unadulterated rage like he had never felt before. And it was directed at… everything. The whole world. But it was directed especially strongly towards Izuku. _Is this what an artificial human is? Rage? No normal person is capable of expressing such harsh emotions. Whatever caused you to be this way is seriously messed up…_

Izuku felt the Nomu's rage well up and realized that the beast was about to attack. He stepped back just in time to dodge a punch that would have torn him to shreds if he stayed a second longer. _Now's my time!_

For a brief moment after releasing his punch, Nomu had put himself into a vulnerable position. And that gave Izuku a brief moment to place his arm on Nomu's and _Reject!_

Reject could always be used for long- and mid- range shockwave attacks. But Reject was always strongest with tactile contact. That's why Izuku could propel water droplets at a bullet's speed and send Shigaraki flying across USJ. So even though Nomu was much bigger than Shigaraki, Izuku's attack should have at least done something. But when Izuku pushed all that force into Nomu's arm, nothing happened. The beast just shrugged it off, winded back, and punched.

But Nomu's attack didn't hit either. It was redirected out of the way by a black, misty portal.

"Now, now, Nomu," Kurogiri chided, floating towards them The beast stood up straight, having seemingly forgotten about his fight with Izuku. "Don't try _too_ hard to kill him. The media won't be able to report on this boy's body if the pieces are scattered around USJ. Better to use a cleaner, more _precise_ method, like my new Invisible Blade."

A disturbance appeared in the air in front of Kurogiri, but Invisible Blade never hit. Instead, the floating villain's torso was caved in by an explosion.

"Hah, I knew you had a body we could hurt!" yelled Bakugou, who was pulling Kurogiri towards the ground. "Did you really think you could randomly teleport me and get away with it? I lunged the minute I saw you materialize, ya damn misty mook!"

"Bakugou!" shouted Izuku. "Watch out! He has a second quirk called Invisible blade!"

Bakugou dropped the villain. "Second quirk? Like y-"

But he didn't have time to finish the question before the glass-like Invisible Blade swept through the air towards him. But Kirishima got there before the Blade did, and it glanced off his hardened skin.

"Second quirk, huh?" Kirishima grinned at the downed villain. "You thugs have been working _hard_ on your evil experiments."

"You'll… die... " gasped Kurogiri. "I'll cut you… again…"

"No you won't." It was a new voice this time. Izuku turned to see Shoto, crouched down ten meters away, his right hand brushing the ground. "Try cutting us when you're frozen solid." Ice spread from his fingers, which spread to completely encase the man's misty form in a thin layer.

"Kurogiri!" shouted Shigaraki, who was pulling himself out of the water. "Get yourself up! We need you to fight!"

"Hmm," hummed Shoto. "I'll freeze you too." He redirected his ice powers in the villain's direction, and in an instant, Shigaraki was frozen into the water around him.

"Whoo!" shouted Kirishima. "That's two villains down! Now there's just…" He suddenly felt an ominous shadow looming over him. He slowly turned around, his eyes trailing up to meet Nomu's ten feet above him.

"...him."

"Kirishima, look out!" warned Izuku. But Nomu punched out with his superstrengthened arm, and Kirishima was knocked back into the fountain. "Kirishima!"

"Calm down, Izuku. Kirishima's fine." Bakugou pointed to the boy, who was already getting up and dusting off his hardened skin. "He's extremely durable, remember?"

Shoto cleared his throat. "We should be more concerned about the villain that was able to punch with such speed and power." He placed his right hand on the ground again, and ice began to spread over the villain's body. For a moment, it looked like Nomu was frozen, but with a flex of his muscles, the ice was shattered.

Nomu lunged for Izuku next, and the green-haired boy was able to dodge by grappling himself to the side with Attraction. He aimed another Reject shockwave, this time at the villain's exposed brain, but the blast didn't visibly affect the villain at all.

Izuku landed between Shoto and Bakugou. The three stood side-by-side, facing Nomu.

"If he can break out of my ice, he's too powerful for me to take on alone." Shoto pointed his right hand at the beast, engulfing it in a wave of fire. "Izuku, Bakugou: we'll need each other's help to defeat this villain. We made a promise to do that, right?"

"Hell yeah we did!" Bakugou pounded his two explosive fists together. "Just don't get in my way!"

"It will be nice to put all our teamwork training into practical use," Izuku agreed. "But first, Kirishima! Take Asui to safety!"

Kirishima jogged up to the trio, still reeling from Nomu's punch. "Tsuyu? Where…" his eyes searched the ground, finding the body with the bloodied face. "Holy, shit. Is that…"

Izuku nodded. "Shigaraki got her face, but I think she'll live. She needs medical attention as soon as possible."

Kirishima looked from Izuku to Tsuyu, unsure of whether he should listen to Izuku or stay and fight. In the end, he remembered the force behind Nomu's punch and decided he wouldn't be of much use, so he scooped up Tsuyu in his arms and fled for the entrance.

"So," started Bakugou, blasting himself into the air. "How much force can you handle?" He brought his two hands together and launched an explosion, which completely engulfed the Nomu. But when the debris cleared, Nomu was still standing, not having moved from his spot. And now, Bakugou was wide open.

Nomu's rage swelled, and Izuku knew the villain was about to attack his friend with another super-speeded, super-powered punch. So he focused Attraction on his friend and pulled Bakugou out of harm's way right before the punch hit. Nomu followed through with his other fist a split-second later, and both Izuku and Bakugou had to jump out of the way with Reject and Explosion, respectively.

"Thanks, Izuku," Bakugou grunted. Izuku nodded back.

Shoto stepped forward. "Looks like your power attacks aren't working. But my fire seemed to keep him back. Can you guys try to distract him while I try to melt him?"

"Sure!" Izuku leaped up with Reject and brought himself down with Attraction before Nomu could hit. He repeated this process, circling counterclockwise around the villain while Bakugou propelled himself clockwise with explosions. Nomu was strong; that was for sure. But he was as dumb as a rock, and that stupidity showed as he flailed his massive arms at the students circling him from both sides.

Shoto took this opportunity to attack liberally with his flame side. Wherever the flames touched the villain's dark skin, it started to melt away, but it grew back to normal right after.

 _This monster can regenerate his injured flesh. I can't do much with my flames from here, but if I got closer…_

With a puff from Reject, Izuku leaped up to avoid another one of Nomu's punches. He rolled to the ground and continued to run, but the green-haired boy was getting tired. _Nomu's fast, and I'm not sure how long I can keep this up for… And what about Bakugou?_

The blond boy seemed to be faring alright, dodging all of Nomu's attacks with explosion-aided jumps. When he saw an opening, he aimed a blast at the villain, but they never seemed to do anything.

"My explosions won't work!" Bakugou yelled back at his classmates.

"Fool!" It was Shigaraki, encased up to his shoulders in ice. "Nomu has been specially engineered with a shock-absorption quirk. You're better off ripping him apart piece by piece, not that Nomu will let you…"

 _Ripping him apart, huh?_ Izuku had an idea. "Shoto, make a wall of ice!"

The boy deactivated his left side and heeded Izuku's command. If his friend had a plan, he'd better follow it.

Seeing that the iceberg had been formed, Izuku turned to his other friend.

"Now, Bakugou! Blast it apart with all your power."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Bakugou grudgingly obliged, leaping away from the Nomu to break apart the ice. "I don't know what this'll do…"

"Perfect." Now, Izuku was ready to execute his plan. He reached out with Attraction and felt all the tiny shards of ice, bringing them to surround his body. Then, when he had gathered enough to look like an icicle monster, he faced Nomu and let loose with Reject. A maelstrom of ice traveled at the villain, each piece moving faster than a bullet. They all pierced the Nomu at once, and the villain was thrown to ground, squirting out enough blood to fill three grown men.

 _Did we… get him?_ The villain lay unmoving. Izuku took a step closer.

And then, Nomu's head perked up. In one fluid motion, the villain shot to his feet and pounced on Izuku. The deep wounds from the ice fragments were already starting to heal.

Izuku's head was smashed into the ground, and the boy saw stars. Then, the villain picked the boy up and pounded him down again. Izuku's entire chest caved in, and his broken ribs were driven into the organs inside him. If his lungs were still intact, he would have screamed.

"Izuku!" Bakugou ran forward, Shoto following right behind him. The blond sent an explosion towards the villain, but it did no good. Izuku stayed pinned under the massive hand. Shoto's fire started to melt Nomu's skin, but it was too slow. They were going to lose Izuku.

 _So much pain… I'm not going to survive this._ He had to fight to stay conscious. _If my hands weren't pinned, I could use Sacrifice…_

-]-[-

Kirishima bounded up the stairs to the entrance two-at-a-time, running as fast as he realistically could without dropping Tsuyu. Her face was… man, it was messed up. _What did they do to her?_

"Mina," he gasped when he saw her at the top. "Are you guys okay?"

"Kirishima!" Tears were running down the girl's face. "Thirteen, he's…" she pointed at the teacher's fallen body, which was surrounded by an ever-growing pool of blood.

 _No way he's alive._ But he didn't have time to worry about that. He set Tsuyu down on the ground.

"Kiri… what's that?"

The red-haired boy didn't say a word. With her crumbled and bloodied face, their classmate was almost beyond recognition.

"Oh my God! Is that Tsuyu?"

Kirishima just leaned back against the railing and ran a hand through his hair. The whole day was _messed up_. The other classmates were starting to gather around the girl's unconscious body. With the exception of Ochako. She was looking down at the fight by the fountain.

"Izuku," she mumbled. Her voice was trembling.

At first, the three boys looked fine. Izuku and Bakugou had been successfully dodging Nomu's attacks, and Shoto looked like he was doing some damage with his fire. And when Nomu went down under the barrage of icicles, Ochako thought the villain was finished. But now, he had her 'friend' pinned, and Izuku was literally getting crushed.

Ochako wanted to do something, anything, but Izuku was on the opposite side of the park. She looked around for ideas. There wasn't really anything she could throw. Or was there… Her eyes rested on the white, spacesuited body lying in a pool of blood.

-]-[-

"Hrngh!" Izuku struggled under Nomu's oppressive grip. His life force was fading away. He wouldn't be able to struggle for much longer. If he could get his hands up to touch Nomu's skin, he'd be able to transfer his pain into the villain's body and kill him for sure. But his arms were pinned underneath his own body, and he had no space to move.

He closed his eyes. _Sorry, Asui. Sorry mom. It looks like all of my actions were in vain._

But like a red and white angel from heaven, something soared down at them from the top of the embankment. It hit Nomu square in the back, and the villain loosened up a bit, more out of surprise than anything. Shoto and Bakugou watched on, dumbfounded, as Thirteen's dead body slid down the villain's back.

 _Did somebody… throw him?_

But none of that mattered to Izuku now; he was momentarily free to move around. He gasped, brought his hand up touched his skin to Nomu's, and activated Sacrifice. Now, Izuku's pain became Nomu's.

The villain howled as all of his ribs simultaneously snapped. His exposed brain started to bend out of shape as it suffered the same blow he had dealt to Izuku a minute before. And although Izuku couldn't see it, Nomu's lungs, kidney, and stomach burst open.

Having healed most of his own injuries, Izuku stood up, his hand not leaving the Nomu's skin.

"Shoto, finish him off with your flames!"

Wondering what, exactly, had just happened, Shoto broke out of his trance and activated his left side. The Nomu was on his knees, now, so Shoto got in close and made his flames as hot as they could get. The fire made short work out of the already-injured Nomu, and the villain fell to the ground in a pile of ash.

Izuku got to his feet, panting. His life-threatening injuries had seemingly vanished, and he was fine now.

"Izuku," Shoto started, "how did you heal?" He looked to Bakugou, who had a better idea about what was going on. The blond knew about Sacrifice after all.

"I'll explain later," Izuku said. "For now, let's get out of here."

The three turned toward the entrance and started to walk towards the staircase. Bakugou stooped down to pick Aizawa's broken body up, but they heard something crack behind them.

"Damn kids," hissed Shigaraki, pulling chunks of ice off his shirt. "Killed my Nomu… Do you know how hard it is to disintegrate something when it turns into water on contact?"

"Facepalm guy!" yelled Bakugou. "Come at us! We're not afraid of you! What are you going to do now that your slave-monster is dead?"

"Fools," muttered Shigaraki. "You still know _nothing_ about the next quirk in my arsenal." He held out his arms. "Prepare…"

"Master, please do not!" It was Kurogiri, who had started to thaw out of his icicle. "We cannot waste any time, and you still haven't learned to control it! You could kill me, or maybe even yourself…"

"Hah!" Shigaraki lifted his arms and prepared to use his mysterious second quirk. "Like I care at this point-"

However, before he could use it, a bullet pierced his hand.

The three shifted their attention to the entrance, where the shot had come from. A line of newcomers had arrived, all dressed from head to toe in their hero costumes.

"Sorry we're late,everyone!" shouted Nezu, as Snipe blew off the smoke from his revolver barrel.

The UA teachers had arrived.

-]-[-

In the end, Kurogiri had broken free of the ice and teleported Shigaraki away before the teachers could capture them. So now there were two dangerous villains on the loose. And they each had two quirks, which made matters even more complicated.

Now that the bad guys were gone and everything was over with, Mina Ashido could break down in peace. She deserved to cry— after all, her life was on the line, and she just saw a teacher get murdered right before her eyes. And to top it all off, she had been forced to look at Tsuyu's face, mutilated beyond recognition. It had seemed like forever ago when they were talking about boys that morning. Mina shouldn't have been so mean…

So she cried to her heart's content as the teachers hustled around her, examining the scene of Thirteen's death and making sure all the children were accounted for. Shoji had assured her that his severed arm would grow back, and Ochako's wound on her chest was too shallow to cause any permanent damage. But they all had been scarred, internally.

"...Hey." It was Bakugou. The blond boy sighed and sat down next to her as they looked over USJ. "Ballsy move of Ochako, throwing the teacher's dead body at Nomu like that. It worked, though. She saved Izuku."

Mina didn't answer, and she kept her gaze locked onto her feet.

Bakugou tried again. "Tsuyu's gonna live, according to Recovery Girl." These words were true, but the reality was much bleaker than that. Recovery Girl could only do so much for the tissue that had literally crumbled away, and it was unlikely that the girl's face would ever look the same, even with plastic surgery. "So that's nice, I guess."

Mina sniffed. "You probably think I'm weak, crying like this…"

"No. Not at all. We were all hurt in some way or another. Look, even Sato is crying, and he's ripped!" It was true: tears were dripping down the muscular boy's face as Ojiro and Koda tried to calm him down.

Mina smiled, despite herself. "So, how are _you_ so okay?"

"Dunno. Maybe I'm too tired. Maybe I'm just tougher than you. Maybe Nomu hit me too hard in the head and I can't feel emotion anymore."

She giggled. "It's probably the former option. I'm so emotionally exhausted that I could fall asleep any minute now and not wake up until the final exams." She shuddered. "Now that's a scary thought…"

Bakugou smirked, and they looked over the facility together. The villain ringleaders got away, a teacher died, and a student was injured beyond repair. But the day wasn't a complete and total defeat. Together, the students had killed Nomu, a beast with the strength of All Might in his prime. And together, they had survived the attack on USJ.

-]-[-

* * *

 **That's the end of Chapter 12, and the conclusion of the USJ arc! A lot happened here, and a lot of it was a huge shift from the original story, so I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **For those of you wondering: Invisible Blade allows the quirk user to cut anything within close range, kind of like a nerfed version of the Sectumsempra spell in Harry Potter. As for Shigaraki second quirk, it's a secret :) Both Kurogiri and Shigaraki will have time to develop their quirks stronger than they already are.**

 **Keep an eye out for the next chapter (probably out Thursday). Next up: the aftermath of USJ and preparation for the sports festival!**


	13. Chapter 13: Vigilante - Part 1

**Chapter 13: Vigilante, Part 1**

* * *

Heavy manga spoilers ahead. Anime-onlies: I suggest you read the manga or wait until season four/five to read this. Enjoy!

* * *

-]-[-

Tsuyu's first visitor today was… unexpected, for lack of a better word. She'd expected her parents, maybe; they had been regularly in and out of her hospital room for the two days she had been awake. Even her classmates, whom she had known for four days, would have been more likely to walk through the door than… this girl.

"Hello, I'm Mei Hatsume, Department of Support student and future president of Hatsume Industries!"

" _Ribbit._ I'm sorry?" Tsuyu turned around to get a better look through her bandages. "Who are you?"

"As I said, I'm Mei Hatsume, Department of Support Student and Future president-"

"-I got that," Tsuyu interrupted. "I mean, why are you here?"

"Ah," the pink-haired girl started, "I thought you'd never ask!" She rummaged through her cargo pants' pockets for something, before coming out with a green-colored disk. "I am here… to give you this!"

"Ah, I see." Tsuyu was a polite girl, in general, but it took all her effort not to snap out at the intrusive visitor. "What is it, exactly?"

"It's the Kearu, or frog, Mask! It's the newest one of my babies!" The girl held the device closer, and Tsuyu could see that it was, indeed, a facemask, complete with goggles and a mouth hole.

She continued: "...No doubt, you're wondering: ' _what does this contraption do?'_ So I'll tell you! I've taken the liberty of pouring through your hero costume notes to find your quirk's strengths and weaknesses and all that stuff! Then, I designed the mask. It's made out of tough, but thin material that will protect your scar tissue whilst giving your skin room to breathe. The mask itself has a slot in the front which will allow your extended tongue to easily pass through. But the best part is the goggles…" she moved her hands to the bulbous lenses that extended out of the mask's surface. "...By twisting the lenses, you can zoom out or magnify your vision. And there's also a button that enables night vision! Perfect for underwater rescue missions! The night vision can also be used outside of water, but I figured you'd be the type-"

"-why?" Tsuyu interrupted, finally. "I mean, it's great. But why did you make it for me? Are you trying to sell it?"

"No," the pink-haired girl answered. "It's free of charge. And as for why I'm giving it to you…" her eyes locked onto Tsuyu's. "...I saw what happened on the news, and I figured: 'what a great opportunity to field-test one of my babies!'"

"So, you're saying I'm a test dummy?"

Mei shook her head. "No, I'd never take advantage of somebody with such a debilitating injury as yours." Tsuyu mentally cringed. _She didn't have to put it so bluntly…_

"Just... tell me how the mask feels once you get the chance to use it. And if anybody asks, say it was created by Mei Hatsume, future-"

"-President of Hatsume Industries. Got it. Thanks Mei!"

Mei smiled as she stepped back towards the door. "No problem, Asui."

"Call me Tsuyu," the bandaged girl called after her. After Mei had left, Tsuyu sunk back into her bed. Talking through the tight bandages wrapped around her face was no fun at all. Tsuyu's face required extensive surgery, but even with the implants, her face would never be the same again. At least the pain had mostly gone away. Having her skin disintegrate was no fun, and she didn't want to _think_ about what would have happened if Shigaraki had kept his hand there for a second longer. _I have to thank Izuku for pushing that man away when he did._

An hour later, Tsuyu heard another knock on her door.

"Come in," she croaked. The door opened to reveal… Mina! And Toru! And Tokayami, Momo, Kirishima, and everyone else! "Hey, guys!" Her voice was hoarse from disuse. Her classmates crowded around her bed, excitedly clamoring. Izuku, however, stayed back, not saying anything. Tsuyu would address him later. But for now…

"Ohhh, I'm so glad to see you're alright," gushed Mina. The girl paused a moment, looked at her bandaged friend, and corrected herself: "I mean, you're not _alright_ , per se. You're still in bad shape from that villain attack, but I was expecting your mouth to be sewn shut or something…" Mina realized what she said and turned a darker shade of pink. "I'm sorry! I'll just stop talking now…"

Tsuyu giggled for the first time since the incident. "No, the surgeons did a good job. Though I'm bandaged so tightly that I can't turn the TV channel from the news."

 _The news._ A grim mood settled over the room. It seemed that all of Japan was talking about the news. And it was the bad sort of news. Bad, especially, for UA. After all, villains had attacked the one place that was lauded as a safe haven for heroes-to-be.

Momo lowered her head. "If you've been watching the news, then you know what they've been saying: what good is UA if it cannot even protect its students?"

Kaminari nodded. "And that's not the only reason the news hates UA right now. There's also the fact that students _killed_ four villains in the flood zone-"

"-Not that anybody's blaming you," Jiro reassured. "I'm sure it was a heat-of-the moment thing."

"Izuku was the one who knocked them out and left them to drown," croaked Tsuyu. "Not all of them had quirks that let them breathe in the water."

Eighteen heads turned toward Izuku, in the back.

"Couldn't you have, I don't know, attracted them to land and then knocked them out?" asked Kaminari.

Izuku shook his head. "I didn't know their quirks, and I didn't want to risk being attacked by an unknown power. And besides, I wanted to help Aizawa as fast as I could."

"But-"

Ochako stepped in front of Izuku, arms up. "Don't attack Izuku, guys. He's on our side! And besides, we were fighting villains! Remember what they did to Thirteen?" She looked to the other people who were at the entrance with Thirteen. Sero grimaced, and Iida slowly nodded. They all saw what happened, and they didn't doubt for a second that Kurogiri would have done the same to them if they had the chance.

"And they melted Tsuyu's face off!" Bakugou added. "I don't care what the news says! Good riddance, honestly."

"But pro heroes never use deadly force." It was Shoji, sporting a recently-healed arm. "Thirteen thought that non-lethal force was a vital thing to learn."

"Thirteen doesn't think much of anything anymore," mused Shoto.

"Yeah, because he was killed by a villain," added Kirishima.

"Whatever, _ribbit_." Tsuyu desperately wanted to change the subject of the conversation to something more lighthearted. "So, does anybody want to see my new mask? It was a gift from a student in the Support Department…"

Tsuyu explained the workings of the mask, and the Class A students all chatted about non-controversial stuff, like classwork and the upcoming UA Sports Festival. Gradually, students said their goodbyes, and after about a half-hour, almost everyone was gone. In fact, Tokoyami was the last student to leave. Out of all the students in her class, Tokoyami was probably the closest to Tsuyu. They chatted at Shoto's party, and they had been on the same team for the hero/villain training. Granted, five days was not a lot of time, but their friendship counted for something.

"Tsuyu," he said. "I've been meaning to tell you something."

" _Ribbit?_ What is it, Tokoyami?"

"It's about the Kearu mask that you're going to wear." He looked down and shuffled his feet. "Look, I know from experience that having an abnormal face is tough. People always stare, and strangers will come up to you and inquire about your quirk. It's disconcerting and annoying." He looked up. "But it doesn't have to be that bad. There are all sorts of people just like me, with my bird face, and now, you, with your frog mask. So, er, what I'm saying is… you should talk to me, or maybe Koda, if you're having any problems with it."

Tsuyu smiled under her bandages. "Thank you, Tokoyami. I might just take you up on that offer. But don't worry: I've never thought your face was anything but normal. Sure, it looks different, but different is normal in this society we live in." She lifted her bandaged arms up, as if to gesture to the world around her.

Tokoyami chuckled. "Yes. Most people won't look twice at my face, and I'm glad for that."

Tsuyu giggled at the boy's awkward mannerisms. "I don't think I've heard you say that many words before."

"Yes. I admit, I don't socialize as much as I should. Maybe I should get out more."

"Maybe _you_ can talk to _me_ about that, _ribbit_."

Tokoyami nodded. "Perhaps I'll take you up on that. But it's late. I should really be going…" he bowed and headed for the door.

"Thank you, Tokoyami," she called out after him.

As Tokoyami left, a green-haired head poked its way through the door. _Izuku._

"Asui." He stepped in. "Sorry for lurking. I just wanted a chance to apologise to you in private." He stepped forward. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ignoring you in the flood zone, and I'm sorry for ultimately leading you into the the middle of the battle. I can't help but feel it's my fault that Shigaraki got your face."

"Izuku…"

"And I know I might just be rubbing salt in your wounds, but please, try to see things from my side, too. I… I lost my mother in a villain attack when I was younger, and I barely escaped with my own life. So I didn't want to put us in any more danger than we needed to be in-"

"-Izuku, I should be the one apologizing. I honestly don't know whether your stance is right or wrong. But the fact that I didn't agree with your methods didn't justify my getting angry at you. You had good intentions the whole way through, and I was a fool for not seeing that. So, you can call me Tsuyu now, if you'd like."

"Thanks, As- I mean- Tsuyu."

"But that doesn't mean I agree with your methods. I won't protest if you do things the lethal way, but please, if you're going to kill someone, keep your distance from me."

Izuku nodded. He'd take it. He expected a bigger argument from her, or maybe a telling-off. "Believe me when I say I really hope it doesn't come to that." He bowed his head and stepped to the door. "Get better." Then he walked outside, where Ochako was waiting for him.

After Izuku left, Tsuyu mulled over the conversation for a bit. Yes, she believed that killing was wrong, even against villains. But the fact still remained that Shigaraki was going to kill her without a second's thought. Wouldn't lethal force be justified in such a situation, if it meant saving a hero's life?

Her thoughts were broken by another knock on the door.

"Come in," Tsuyu croaked.

Tsuyu's next visitor didn't have to walk very far to get to her room. With all the bandages he was wearing, Tsuyu wouldn't have been able to recognize him if not for the long, scruffy black hair.

"You're awake. Good."

Tsuyu smiled. The doctors had told her that her teacher was recuperating in the next room over. "Hello, Aizawa-sensei. How are you feeling?"

He grunted. "I'll live, and it looks like you will, too. But I'm not here to discuss frivolities." He dropped a stack of papers on the desk. "Here is all your missing classwork. I suggest you get it done with your abundant free time in the hospital."

Tsuyu sighed. Nothing but tough love from Aizawa. Since he, their teacher, was in the hospital, and since his students had just suffered a through a life-threatening experience, Tsuyu hoped that Aizawa would cut his class some slack. Her hopes were misplaced. At least she'd have something to distract herself from the news.

"Thanks," she croaked.

He shifted in his seat, grunting from the exertion. "But I didn't come here just to give you your homework. I've also come to ask whether or not you want to participate in the upcoming UA Sports Festival."

 _That's right! I forgot: The UA sports festival is happening a week from now. But I figured I wouldn't be a part of it, what with my injury..._

"...The decision is up to you, of course. On one hand, you've suffered a debilitating physical injury, and likely a psychological one, as well. You might be in no shape to compete." He tilted his head. "But on the other hand, heroics students excel in dealing with adversity. With enough willpower, you could be in fighting shape in a week. It all comes down to one question: do you feel like you're ready?"

"I-" Tsuyu sunk into her bed, considering his words. She felt like a complete and utter wreck, what with her face torn open and wrapped in bandages. But she was already starting to feel restless. _I need to do something._ And there was another reason to compete, something that Aizawa didn't mention either. The world was watching, and chances were, Shigaraki and his 'League of Villains' would be watching too. If Tsuyu stayed on the sidelines, it would look like she had been defeated. And that was not the case.

"I've decided," she finally said. "I want to do it. But..." she reached down for her new Kearu mask and held it up. "Do you think I'd be able to wear this?"

-]-[-

"So, how did your talk with Tsuyu go?" asked Ochako as they boarded the train together.

"It went… well."

Izuku found a pair of empty seats next to a chunky-looking man in a hoodie, and he and Ochako sat down.

"I mean, we still don't see eye-to-eye, but I think she understands my thought process. She's a nice person, at heart."

Ochako nodded, and then shivered.

"What's wrong?" asked Izuku. He could tell without Empathy that something was weighing on her mind. But he didn't use his quirk, out of respect for his friend's privacy.

"Nothing." Ochako straightened up.

"No, really. You can tell me."

"Well, it's just…" Ochako sighed. "It's… everything about what happened at USJ. Thirteen's death, my stab wound, Tsuyu's face. There's just so much pain!" A tear rolled down her face, and she lowered her voice, so as to not disturb anyone else on the train. "I was _this_ close to dying, and so were you! It's a miracle Recovery Girl was able to save you from any permanent injury..."

Izuku looked down at the floor of the train. After healing Tsuyu to the extent of her abilities, Recovery Girl had gone straight to Izuku. Only Shoto and Bakugou had seen Sacrifice in action, so they explained Izuku's sudden healing as Recovery Girl's work. That night, in the dorms, Izuku and Bakugou explained Izuku's five-quirk situation to Shoto. The red- and white- haired boy took their explanation surprisingly well, as Shoto had what was basically two quirks anyway. It pained Izuku not to tell Ochako the truth about his quirks, but now was not the time or the place for that. _Ochako has her own problems to worry about._

"...And then, there was Thirteen. I… picked him up and threw his dead body like a torpedo! At the time, I was thinking about you, but now… I'm repulsed."

"But that was the right thing to do," Izuku protested. "You _saved my life_ with that throw. It was the right call."

Ochako lowered her voice to a shaky whisper. "I was petrified through it all. I was afraid of dying." She sniffed and looked up. "I just don't know if I'm cut out to be a hero. And the problem is: before USJ, I thought I was. I once made a promise that, with my powers, I would try to help people, but now I don't know if it's a promise that I can keep…"

Izuku didn't know what 'promise' she was talking about, but he did know one thing: "Ochako, of course you can be a hero! You were strong and smart enough to beat all the other applicants and to get into UA. And you _weren't_ petrified. When I was having trouble, you moved, and you saved my life. That's what a hero is!" He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. He was on a roll now. "Sure, there will be times when you'll get scared, or when your life is on the line, but that doesn't matter. Because, as long as we stick together, I'll be there to watch your back!"

Before he could say anymore, he felt arms clamp around his chest. Ochako had wrapped him up in a tight hug, and he couldn't get out any more words. Izuku pulled himself into the embrace, and they sat there for a minute. Neither of them noticed the other's blushing.

"Thanks, Izuku," Ochako finally said, looking up. "That's just what I needed to hear. And… I like the idea of sticking together." _And keeping you close._ "If you'll watch my back, I'll watch yours just as well!"

"Great!" exclaimed Izuku. "I was starting to feel down…"

A bell sounded, and Ochako sat up. "This is my stop. I'm staying with my parents for the weekend. Are you going anywhere?"

"No, I'm staying at UA." It wasn't like he had any parents to live with, or a house for that matter. _Would I live on the streets after graduation?_ He'd cross that bridge when he got there. "I plan on training with Shoto and Bakugou for the sports festival."

"Oh, alright then!" Ochako stood up as the train screeched to a halt. "See you around!" And then she was off.

 _Maybe my heart can stop beating at three-hundred BPM, now…_

He relaxed in his seat.

"Those were some inspired words back there, kid. She's crushing on you, for sure"

It was the hooded man in the seat next to him. Izuku smiled and nodded, keeping a blush at bay and suppressing his annoyance at the man for listening in on their conversation. He avoided eye-contact, and looked right the floor of the bus.

"...I wonder, did you ever happen to tell her about your five quirks?"

Izuku shot up. He was listening now. "Who are you? How do you know about my quirks?" He tried to look at the man's face, but it was covered mostly by his hood. Still… it looked familiar.

"That's not important." He sounded young, maybe early twenties? "All you need to know is that I'm an ally. And that you might want to reconsider your weekend plans." He paused for effect. "You see, when the news reported a villain attack on UA, I was surprised. And I was even more surprised to learn that four villains died in the attack. But the kicker was: they were killed. By a student, who hadn't even finished his first week of hero school. I did some digging to find out that that student was you."

"So?" Izuku asked. _That was supposed to be classified information! And he knows about my quirks, too! Who is this guy?_ "What do you want from me?"

"I want to offer a proposition. You're a special kid, and it's not just because you have four more quirks than most. You're special because you're not afraid to break the rules to do the right thing. The villains you killed at USJ prove that."

Izuku ground his teeth. It was uncomfortable how much this man knew about him. "So what's the proposition? If you want me to kill someone for you, I'm out."

"It's nothing like that, I promise." He changed the subject. "Let's say you were supposed to obtain something extremely valuable to society, but you can't obtain it without leaving somebody for torture. Would you try to help society as a whole, or the single person?"

He turned to Izuku, and the green-haired boy realized it was not a rhetorical question.

"Umm, well it depends on the details. It's all very vague. If society can live without this _thing_ , then I'd try to save the individual first and help society later. But if it's _that_ important, I'd obtain the _thing._ After all, the individual could be saved later on. But first, I'd try to find a way to save both-"

"Bingo," said the man. "Smart kid. You think just like me. Now, is that a good thing or a bad thing…" his voice trailed off, before he snapped back to reality. "Anyway, I was faced with the same scenario a while ago, and I chose the third option: both. Now, I can't really _do_ both without losing my job, so I require some outside help." He pointed to Izuku. "And that's where you come in."

"Me?" asked Izuku. "But I'm just a-"

"-student, who isn't bound by oath to follow the law. Besides, you're capable of doing what needs to be done. USJ proves that. All I need now is your compliance. Will you help me save both society and an innocent person?"

"Yes," Izuku said automatically. He didn't really know why he said it, but he felt like he could trust the man in front of him.

"Very good. Welcome aboard. By now, I think you deserve to know who I am." He pulled his hood down, and Izuku gasped. He didn't need to be a hero fanatic to know the face in front of him.

"You're the Number-Two hero, Hawks!"

"Shh," Hawks hushed. "We don't want to attract paparazzi now, do we?"

"No, sorry." Izuku scratched his head. "I'm just surprised, is all. There's just so much going on at once…" _It's Hawks! The winged hero himself! That explains why he looked so chunky in his hoodie… he's hiding his wings!"_

Hawks cleared his throat. "...Now that you're on board, I'll tell you all the details. Don't tell anyone else about this if you don't want to get arrested, got it?" Izuku nodded. "Now, there's this very young girl named Eri…"

-]-[-

It was 9:00, and the night had already turned dark. Kai Chisaki, a man known throughout the criminal underworld as Overhaul, stepped out of his car and nodded to Chronostasis, who held the door open for him. Loyal to a fault, that man was. Chisaki walked forward, flanked by his two closest subordinates on either side and followed by eight, lesser-known minions. Together, they made the Eight Precepts of Death.

A ninth stumbled out of the car behind him, bumping his head on the roof. An impressive feat for someone who was barely 5'4".

"Hawks," sighed Chisaki. "Get your act together. We need you for extra muscle, just in case this is a trap. And put your mask on. You, especially, need to hide your identity, _pro hero._ "

Hawks meekly stepped into formation, donning a plague doctor mask that matched the others. "A hawk with a beak," mumbled Hawks. "Fitting."

"You sure this is okay, boss?" It was Shin Nemoto, the cynic. "I mean, his job is to arrest people like us…"

"I'm sure," stated Chisaki. "He has already proved his loyalty to us, and he knows that running out now would be a mistake. Right, Hawks?"

The pro-hero nodded.

"Does anyone else have any complaints?" Nobody answered. They knew a threat when they heard one. "Good," said Chisaki. "Let's go in."

Their destination was a warehouse. It seemed tall from their close distance, but it was really only four stories tall. Chronostasis trotted forward to open the door for his gang's leader, and Chisaki stepped in.

A peep sounded behind him, quiet enough to go unheard by the yakuza leader.

"Quiet, Eri!" hissed Rappa. She didn't make another sound, even after the gargantuan man stepped on her foot as punishment.

The warehouse was illuminated just enough for Chisaki to make out two silhouettes, no doubt the people he was meeting.

"Shigaraki." His voice was just loud enough to be heard by the people across from him. "Your numbers have dwindled since our last meeting. Has the great 'League of Villains' been reduced to a mere two people?"

Shigaraki groaned a weak "quality over quantity," but his voice was soon overtaken by Kurogiri's, the group's resident negotiator.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Overhaul. Yes, our numbers are meager, but that's why we brought you here. We are hoping to form an alliance with you."

Chisaki burst into laughter, and the other precepts joined in, so as to not leave their leader laughing by himself. Hawks tenatively joined in, his eyes darting to Eri and then to the windows. Shigaraki balled his hands into fists, but Kurogiri floated as calmly as ever.

Chisaki finally calmed himself long enough to string together a sentence. "Forgive me, Shigaraki, if I can't help but see the humor in this situation. _You_ , the dregs of a failed evil grassroots movement who lost to a bunch of kids, want to join with _us_ , the Eight Precepts of Death? Why would we ever want to do that?"

Shigaraki was about to shout an insult back, but he was calmed by Kurogiri's hand on his shoulder.

"We… have something for you. Something for all of our allies, in fact." he looked around the room. "Consider it… a reward for joining up with us, if you choose to do so."

"We believe you will be tempted by the offer," added Kurogiri.

 _This is bad_ , thought Hawks as his eyes darted around the room. _The League of Villains has something that could persuade the Eight Precepts to join their ranks. I need more info, dammit. At least Izuku should be in place by now. He'll be hard pressed to complete his part of the mission without bringing harm to himself…_

-]-[-

Nobody, not even Hawks, noticed the dark shape that pressed against the skylight above Chisaki's head. Izuku's stealth suit was serving its intended purpose.

 _Good thing I ditched the armor plating,_ Izuku thought. _I wouldn't have been able to keep up with Hawks' car if I was weighed down by metal. I'm stealthier this way, too._

He peered down at the villains in their meeting, making out Hawks' brown hair and the gang leader's pointed mask. He peered closer to notice the white hair of a young girl. She was trembling behind the men, obviously cold wearing nothing but her hospital gown.

 _That must be Eri. Poor girl…_ She looked terrified, but she wouldn't be scared for much longer.

After all, Izuku was here to save her.

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's Chapter 13! Izuku once again finds himself in danger, and Hawks, of all people, is roping him into it!**

 **Sorry for the week-long wait. This chapter took longer to write, and I've been preparing for school. Once school starts, I'll be posting a lot more sporadically, because I won't be able to control my homework schedule. One day, I might be done with everything at 2:00PM, and the next day I'll be up until 2:00AM. But I don't intend on leaving this fic behind. Thanks for understanding!**

 **If you enjoyed, leave a review! And if you didn't… leave one anyway. I'll be able to work on my weak points that way.**


	14. Chapter 14: Vigilante - Part 2

**Chapter 14: Vigilante, Part 2**

* * *

-]-[-

Chisaki crossed his arms. "Well, Shigaraki? We're waiting. What is the 'proposition' you seem so excited about?" _Make this fast so I can get out of this filthy hellhole._

"I'm getting to that," Shigaraki grumbled. "But first, tell me: what's that _girl_ doing here?"

All eyes turned to Eri, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide behind Tengai's jacket.

"Oh," sighed Chisaki. "That's my daughter, Eri. She tends to get into trouble when she's left alone, so I'm taking her with me to work. Pay her no mind; she's harmless." The yakuza turned away. The truth was, when left alone, Eri would always try to escape. Since the girl's DNA was so important to their operations, Overhaul wanted to keep her as close as possible, even if it meant taking her to a meeting between two gangs.

"Very well, then." Shigaraki drooped his shoulders. The girl's presence was suspicious and strange, but he was outnumbered twelve-to-two. He wasn't in any position to complain. "Whatever. Now, for the proposition. I guess I could explain what the _gift_ is, but a practical demonstration would be far better, wouldn't you agree? Kurogiri, show them."

The warp gate villain activated his quirk and disappeared in a cloud of mist. He reappeared thirty feet in the air, coming dangerously close to Izuku's hiding spot, and he softly glided down.

"As you can see, Kurogiri's quirk, Warpgate, allows him to produce a black mist that can teleport him and others to nearby places. As you can imagine, he's had this quirk ever since he was four years old, and the power is encoded in his DNA." He paused, allowing his words to settle in. "But that's not all he can do…"

To demonstrate his master's words, Kurogiri activated Invisible Blade, cutting through the coffee table that Shigaraki stood behind. A few of the onlooking Yakuza gasped.

Shigaraki smiled and continued: "...Kurogiri inherited Warpgate from his biological parents, yes, but the League of Villains has found another way to pass on quirks. And this time, there are no physical or psychological side effects from the process, like there are with the infamous Nomus. Kurogiri inherited his second quirk, Invisible Blade, through science! His new power was specifically selected to work in tandem with his teleportation, and with it, he has become a silent and deadly assassin, capable of killing some of the strongest pro heroes.

Chisaki remained silent, and the rest of the yakuza followed suit. Shigaraki took this opportunity to deliver the ultimatum:

"As I said before, this _gift_ is a reward for all of our allies." He looked around. "If any of you join us, the League will grant you a second quirk."

Izuku, who was listening through the cracked-open skylight, drew back. _Kurogiri and Shigaraki have mentioned having multiple quirks. But now, the League is suggesting that they have the power to grant anybody a quirk! Does this have anything to do with the mysterious substance from my accident, eleven years ago?_

Hawks, who was still disguised in his mask, reacted similarly. _This is bad. The League has more power than we thought. I wonder: how will Overhaul react?_

The yakuza leader was standing deathly still. Even his own men were wondering what he'd do next.

"You… want to give others _more_ quirks?" he asked, his breath shaky.

"Yes, I do!" answered Shigaraki, mistaking the man's mortified tone as one of wonder.

"That… will only soil things even more!" He slammed his index finger down onto one of the coffee table halves, and it exploded into fragments. Shigaraki took a step back from the wide-eyed monster before him. "Don't you understand? This… illness in the world… it comes from our quirks! And you would have people submit to you by giving them more..." He straightened up and took a breath, all while brushing the wood fragments off his sleeve. "I see now. You're a disease that needs to be cleansed." He turned back to his yakuza and stepped back towards Eri. "Boys: kill them!"

Shigaraki slowly backpedalled. "Kurogiri. This was a bad idea."

"Agreed," answered the villain. "Hindsight is 20/20. We had no idea that Overhaul would react in this way… Let's retreat."

"Let's," agreed Shigaraki. He shoved his fist into the floor. It slid in easily, as if the floor was liquid. "But first, give me the chance to try out my new quirk!"

"Master…" Kurogiri warned.

"Shut up. You had the chance to try _yours_ out on Thirteen. Now, it's my turn!" He channeled his quirk through the ground. "Limb Sprout!"

The eight expendables advanced on the two villains. Kurogiri disappeared and reappeared behind them, but Tenagi stepped forward and created a forcefield around himself. Invisible Blade glanced off the barrier, and Kurogiri was forced to teleport again to avoid a brutal punch from Rappa. The other five approached Shigaraki's crouching form, but they failed to notice the tiny little hands that were beginning to sprout from the ground beneath them.

Hawks lingered behind. _We know what the League wants, and now they're distracted. Go, Izuku!_ He heard the soft sound of glass shattering above and knew the boy was on top of things.

Izuku leapt from the roof, following the maelstrom of broken glass that he had just Rejected towards Mimic and Chronostasis. Chisaki's two deputies raised their arms to protect their faces, and Izuku made to land, slowing his fall by Attracting his body to the roof. Eri was only five meters away, next to Overhaul, and Izuku only had a second to move before the dangerous criminals would notice him. His identity was hidden by his stealth suit's hood, but that wouldn't stop the gangsters from attacking on sight.

With a blast from Reject, he sent himself flying towards Eri. Chisaki instinctually moved his arm to block him, but Izuku was faster: the yakuza boss' hand only barely brushed against the Stealth Suit's fabric. He swept up Eri by the waist and launched himself towards the other side of the building.

While Izuku was rescuing Eri, the other yakuza were realizing, to their horror, that their feet were starting to dissolve. In the dim lighting, they could see objects that looked like— were they hands— covering the ground? The open hands, each about the size of a dandelion, were rendering everything they touched to dust. As their boots crumbled, the yakuza tried to scramble away, but there was no escape; the hands were everywhere! The floor under their feet had quickly turned into a death trap, and the yakuza could do nothing but hop around and howl in pain as their bare feet started to crumble away.

Shigaraki grinned. The usually-brooding villain's voice had turned childish with glee. "Do you like my new quirk, Limb Sprout?" he gestured to his hand, which was still submerged. "It lets me branch out through the ground and grow copies of my limbs; those hands you are all replicas of my own. And this all works perfectly with my original quirk, which allows me to dissolve objects See?" He was shouting at the yakuza members who, after the bottoms of their feet had crumbled, had started to fall to the ground. This move was a mistake, since now, more of their bodies' surface areas were exposed to the hands. They would be dead soon. "This is the power that comes with having multiple quirks! You're missing out, honestly."

The array of hands was spreading across the ground, towards Chisaki and his lieutenants. Hawks cursed and poked his wings out through his jacket, taking off into the air. When the hand sprouts reached Chisaki, time seemed to stop. The man turned away from Izuku and Eri for a moment. He twitched, and he reached down.

"Don't touch me," he growled, placing his finger on the nearest hand. The hand replica immediately exploded, and Shigaraki yelled out in pain. The villain pulled his arm out of the ground, and the sprouts disappeared, as if they were never there.

"Hmm. It looks like I can hurt you through your replicas!"

Shigaraki moaned and tried to activate his quirk, but Kurogiri reappeared in front of him.

"Enough. He knows your new quirk's weakness, and they're too dangerous to fight by ourselves. We need to leave."

"Gah!" Shigaraki brought his hands up to his neck and started to scratch. "Fine." He stared daggers at Chisaki. "But this isn't over, Overhaul. You'll come to regret-" he was cut off by Kurogiri's black mist, which whisked him away.

"Regret?" Chisaki asked the air. He looked at his fallen yakuzas, who were clutching deep wounds all over their bodies. _The skin crumbled right off. Shigaraki really got them._ "He will be the one to regret this day."

He whipped around to face Eri, but she was gone. That mysterious figure with the black bodysuit took her while he was distracted by Shigaraki. Chisaki ran through the door to look around, but it was too late. The shadowy figure had disappeared into the night, and it had taken Eri with it.

"Shit!" He pounded his fist into the ground, and fissures appeared. His daughter— the one person who was more important to his plans than anything— had been captured by an unknown enemy. "Shit!" He pounded his fist into the pavement again.

But after a second, he remembered: not all hope was lost. With his pitch-black costume and unique way of moving, the shadowy figure didn't seem like any hero he'd seen before. If the man wasn't a hero, then Eri wasn't in the hands of the authorities. Could it have been a vigilante? Or a rival villain who was trying to use Eri's quirk to achieve his own ends? Also, when Chisaki tore open the bodysuit's sleeve, he caught a glimpse of bright green skin. Not normal at all. Chisaki would have to do some digging, later.

The gang leader lifted his head. He heard a siren in the distance. _Dammit. Did Kurogiri call the police when I wasn't looking? Anyhow, we'll have to leave behind those who cannot walk_. He counted six injured, in total. Katsukame, Nemoto, Setsuno, Hojo, Tabe, and Sakaki. When Shigaraki's attack hit, Rappa and Tengai were off to the side, fighting Kurogiri, out of Shigaraki's range. Mimic and Chronostasis were by his side, and Hawks had flown into the air. _That's five left, including me, and not including Hawks._ He glanced around. _Where did that bird go?_

-]-[-

After escaping the warehouse, Izuku had grappled to the roof of the nearest building, so as to avoid being seen from the streets. It wasn't easy in the pitch blackness, with a five year-old girl in his arms, but from there, he navigated his way across the city's rooftops to the rendezvous point: an open window that led to a brightly-lit nursery room. Once he landed, Izuku gently placed Eri on the carpet and removed his hood to catch his breath.

"Are… are the bad men going to come back?"

Izuku turned to face the girl, activating Empathy. Even after Eri had been rescued from her captors, she was still paralysed with fear. Izuku shivered. _What did they do to her?_

Izuku realized that Eri was still looking for an answer to her question. He sat down next to her, and stared over the city. "No, they're gone now. Nobody's going to hurt you again."

Eri looked away, and Izuku could tell she was still unsure. From the look of things, Eri had been with the yakuza for a big part of her life. A rescue like this would have seemed surreal to her, or maybe even like a dream. Anxious to make her feel comfortable, Izuku beckoned Eri closer, cupping his hand.

"See this?" he opened his hands a crack, and a green light shot out. Izuku pointed his improvised laser pointer at the wall and twirled it around. Eri watched on in amazement as the light beam traveled from the wall, to the carpet, and onto her own arm. She tried to grab it, and she yelped in surprise when the light rematerialised on the back of her hand.

Izuku chuckled. "It's light! You can't grab it, see?"

Eri leaned in towards his hand.

"With my Glow-in-the-Dark quirk, I can create lasers with the shadows from my cupped hands. Pretty cool, right?" To emphasise this, he shined the light on Eri's forehead. She cupped her hands to her face and giggled. But even through her laughter, her face remained sullen. _Why won't she smile? I guess we'll have to work on it…_

"I… saw… before…" Eri pointed at Izuku's arm, and he looked down to see a rip in his clothes.

"Oh, I must have ripped my costume during the escape. Too bad; it's rare material, and I'll need to talk to the support company about getting it fixed…" his voice trailed off when he realized he was upsetting Eri.

"You… tore it because of me?" Tears welled up in Eri's eyes. "I'm... sorry."

Izuku waved his arms in front of his face. "No, no. It's no big deal at all-" But the girl scooted closer and touched the tear in the fabric. She closed her eyes and felt her quirk activate, opening them to see, much to Izuku's astonishment as well her own, that the costume had seemingly been fixed. The hole was gone.

"Wow," Izuku gasped. "You repaired my costume! Is that your quirk? What does it do?"

Eri pulled back. "I… don't know."

"Well whatever it is, it's amazing."

Just then, Izuku, to his horror, caught a glimpse of puncture marks on the girl's arm. He took in a sharp breath, but before he could ask her about them, he heard a cluttering sound.

"Hey, I made it." Hawks pulled himself through the open window. "I see you got Eri. That's great." He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. "I saw fit to remove the yakuza mask before coming over. Didn't want to scare the girl…"

Eri was still looking at the hero with terror in her eyes.

Hawks crouched down to get on Eri's height level. "Eri, I know I spent a lot of time with your daddy and the other yakuza, but I'm actually one of the good guys. My name is Hawks, and I'm the second-highest ranking hero in the world!"

"H-hawks?" Asked Eri, eying the man's red wings.

He grinned. "That's right. If you're a fan, I bet we can find some merchandise for you."

"By the way," started Izuku. "You never said how you 'joined' the yakuza in the first place. How did they trust you?"

Haks straightened up. "That doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we now know that the League of Villains has a method of granting extra quirks. It's time for my focus to shift from the street gangs to the League itself. Besides, the yakuza are crippled. Eri, the person whom their operations have revolved around, has been saved, and six out of eleven of them have been captured."

"W-who?" asked Eri.

"I dunno exactly, but I think the big guy, Katsumake, was one of them. And the creepy guy, Tabe." Izuku noticed Eri tensed up at the name, but Hawks continued: "They were all harmed by Shigaraki's quirk, if only for a few seconds, so they're in the nearest hospital, now." He sighed, and then headed towards the window. "Anyways, I have to get going. I still have a job to do. I'll be back in a few hours or so so I can 'find' Eri, and then you can head back to your dorm."

"Bye," squeaked Eri.

"See ya!" And at that, Hawks was gone. Since technically, Hawks' mission was to gain information, and not to rescue Eri, it would have been suspicious for Hawks to deliver Eri directly to the authorities. Instead, Hawks would say that Eri ran away from the meeting, and that he 'found' her hours later. So now, all Izuku would have to do was wait until Hawks came back.

He turned to Eri. "You reacted when Hawks mentioned those people who were in the hospital. Did you know them?"

She started to shake. "Y-yes."

"What?" Izuku asked, his voice raising. "What did they do to you?"

"Um…" She looked down. "Once, I… I tried to escape. I almost made it to a hero agency, but Katsumake… was there first. He grabbed me and… he whispered: I'll crush you the next time you escape!" She looked up into Izuku's eyes. "And Tabe, he _ate_ all my dolls and said he'd eat me next!"

Izuku looked down into Eri's teary eyes and recognized them. They were the eyes of a child who had been stepped on by grown-ups. Years ago, Izuku had worn those same eyes after the Psychokiller attack. And he never wanted to see those eyes again.

Looking into them, something broke within his heart. He wanted some way to lessen the girl's fear, and at the same time hold her captors accountable.

"Don't worry, Eri." He had an idea. "You'll see soon: those guys are beneath you."

-]-[-

Soramitsu Tabe woke up chained to a hospital bed. He was famished; after that fight against Shigaraki, he could eat anything, even the bed he was lying on. But when he opened his mouth so he could use his quirk, he found his jaw clamped shut. _Shit. The authorities must have restrained us when they took us away._

He craned his neck to look around the hospital ward, and he recognized the unmasked faces of his comrades, all restrained to their hospital beds. _This is everyone who was in range of Shigaraki's quirk._ _Will anyone come for us? No. We'll be left to fend for ourselves. Hehe. We're the expendables, after all. We're lower than dirt._

They weren't alone in the room. There were other patients, too, though they weren't bound up like the gangster was. No doubt, they had bad injuries like his. Tabe felt the soles of his feet throb in pain. Having his skin dissolve was not a pleasant feeling.

He closed his eyes to ward off the pain, opening his eyes to find himself face to face with— a ghost!

"Hello," said the ghost. In the dimly-lit room, Tabe could make out a flowing, white blob in front of him. It was a ghost, obviously, here to haunt Tabe for his crimes. "You're Tabe, right?" The yakuza shrunk away in terror.

The ghost stepped forward. "You've been a bad man, Tabe. You've committed crimes in the name of the yakuza, and worst of all, you sat by and contributed to the torment of Eri, the little girl."

"I-I'm sorry!" Tabe squirmed, and, just for a second, he thought he heard Eri's voice. "Sure, I might have toyed around with her for a bit, but I didn't mean it. I swear!"

" _Hush, Eri,"_ the ghost, who was in fact Izuku, whispered. Before coming to the hospital, he and Eri had donned a white bedsheet to conceal their identities. Eri, at first, was adamantly against visiting her former captors, but Izuku insisted that he'd protect her if anything went wrong. As for why they were there… "She is _five_ years old! You hurt her, and thus, you deserve punishment."

He walked over to one of the unconscious patients. "See this person? She's injured, like you, but she doesn't need to be bound and restrained. Because she's not a criminal." Izuku removed a hand from his bedsheet and placed it on the woman's. He activated Sacrifice and groaned in agony when her pain became his own. Eri gasped as Izuku's arms contorted, but he gritted his teeth and waved her off.

"Hmph. It feels like she shattered every bone in both of her arms." He turned toward Tabe. "Luckily for her, you are going to take that pain from her."

He brushed his fingers against the yakuza's face and activated Sacrifice again. This time, it wasn't to take on another's injuries, but to transfer his own. Izuku felt his broken arms heal, and Tabe's eyes widened in shock. The thug would have screamed out if his mouth weren't restrained. Instead, he let out a long, pained gasp.

"Thank you," Izuku said to Tabe. "For maybe the first time in your life, you've healed someone instead of harming them." He turned towards the other yakuza, who, upon hearing the commotion, were starting to wake up. He looked over his shoulder at the girl on his back. "C'mon, Eri. I can heal five more people by transferring their injuries to these thugs." He gestured towards Tabe, who was starting to whimper. "See? The bad guys aren't so scary after all."

"Y-yeah." Eri looked down at Tabe through a slit in the fabric, and then up at Izuku. A smile was starting to form on her face. "They aren't scary when they're stuck in their beds!"

Izuku grinned back. Eri was getting her much-deserved revenge on the people that wronged her, and she had even smiled!

The two of them wordlessly moved from person to person. Izuku would go to a civilian's hospital bed, transfer their injuries to himself, and then transfer them to a yakuza member. In the dim lighting, the only thing the gangsters could see through their own delirium was a ghostly figure that could injure them with the just the slightest touch. After he transferred the last drop of pain, he walked out the door without a second glance.

 _This is Tsuyu's hallway,_ Izuku realized. _She's probably still sleeping in her room. Sorry, Tsuyu. I know I told you I'd avoid violence if I could. But those were bad people, and Eri needed to see them in a position of powerlessness._

"Remember," he reminded Eri. "Don't tell anyone about this. Not even Hawks." She nodded. She had taken a liking to Izuku, and she didn't want to see him get in trouble.

Izuku wiped his eyes. Taking all those injuries from the civilians really drained him, even if the pain had quickly been transferred away to someone more deserving of it. He also didn't often have the opportunity to use Sacrifice; he wasn't used to using it for extended periods of time. He could finally get some rest, once Hawks came back from whatever he was doing.

-]-[-

"Dammit," spat Shigaraki, as he scratched his scarred neck. "That meeting was a bad idea." They were sitting in their abandoned bar base, too full of adrenaline to go to bed this early.

"It was," agreed Kurogiri. "But there was no way of knowing that Overhaul was so adverse to the idea of multiple quirks. I didn't expect him to attack like that."

"Yeah…" Shigaraki scratched his neck even harder. "If my new quirk quirk wasn't so useless, I would have killed them all."

Kurogiri shook his head. "Your quirk isn't useless. In fact, it works very well with your natural quirk. You just need to get used to controlling so many extensions of your body like that."

Shigaraki grunted. "I need to handle the pain… I'll talk to Master about it later. For now, we need more people."

They were interrupted by a knock at the front door.

 _Who could be here at this hour_ _?_ Kurogiri wondered. _It's too late to serve drinks._ He floated to the door and opened it, preparing invisible blade. A man with messy brown hair and bright red wings stepped through.

"Hello," said Hawks, cheerfully. "The underworld broker sent me. Before you try to kill me, hear me out."

"You have five seconds," said Shigaraki. Kurogiri was still reeling in shock. As the Number Two hero, Hawks was the second biggest threat to their organisation. If he was here, it wasn't good.

Hawks raised his hands. "You'll like this, I promise. I've seen your work, and I'm impressed. Not everybody can attack Japan's biggest hero academy and get away with it. In short, I want to join you guys. Whaddaya say?"

-]-[-

* * *

 **There's Chapter 14! A lot happened. Shigaraki second quirk was revealed, Hawks is 'joining' the League of Villains, and Eri smiled (for a not-so-wholesome reason).**

 **I'll be getting back to canonical events in the next chapter. Get excited for the Sports Festival!**

 **As always, leave a review if you want to tell me something. I'll respond, for sure!**


	15. Chapter 15: Athlete's Oath

**Chapter 15: Athlete's Oath**

* * *

-]-[-

"Excuse me. Sorry." Endeavor muscled his way through the crowd of journalists, each of them trying to catch a glimpse of the city's most famous hero. The reporters were not supposed to be here, but no member of the press wanted to pass up on the opportunity to meet the city's most high-profile heroes, who, for today, were all gathered in one place.

Somehow, the Number-One Hero managed to push through the cluster of human bodies without hurting anyone. Once he made it to the conference room door, he pulled it open and shoved himself inside before quickly closing it. He turned to face the occupants of the room, all gathered around a large table. He was met by the familiar faces of Hawks, Best Jeanist, Kamui Woods, and many of his other colleagues.

Endeavor grunted. "Sorry I was late. The press was very _aggressive_ towards me this morning. They wanted a quote."

"Pfft," teased Edgeshot. "How _unbecoming_ of the Number-One Hero to let mere journalists get in his way…"

"Oh, be quiet, Edgeshot." The heroes turned. It was Fatgum, reclining in his custom-made chair. "Not all of us can reduce our size to fit through crowds, like you can."

"Then just blast your way through them," retorted the Ninja Hero, grinning under his mask. "It's not like anyone will care about a few dead reporters..."

All the heroes chuckled at that. Edgeshot was joking, obviously. Nobody actually wanted to kill a civilian. But the people in this room were the most popular celebrities in the entire country and, by consequence, the subjects of many scandalous tabloids. It was safe to say that the pro-heroes were united in their hatred of the media.

"Ahem," coughed a lady seated at the head of the conference table. "If we're done discussing homicide, shall we begin?"

The clamor in the room died down. The woman was the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, more commonly known as the HPUC. She, for all intensive purposes, was the boss of every single hero in that room, even Endeavor. She was also in charge of the day's meeting, so she commanded the heroes' respect.

An armored hero shrugged. "Everyone's here," said Igneum, who was seated toward the middle of the room.

The President pursed her lips. "Very well, then. Welcome to this year's conference of Japan's highest-ranking professional heroes. Our agenda today includes public relations, inter-agency cohesion, and preparations for the UA Sports Festival in three weeks' time. But first, considering the astonishing rise in crime since All Might's retirement, the HPUC believes it will be wise to discuss current developments in the criminal underworld as well as how we will deal with them. Mera, if you will…"

"Hmm, yes." A man, who Endeavor assumed to be another HPUC employee, yawned. He had dark bags under his eyes, and his words came out slow and uneven. The man obviously needed to get more sleep.

He continued: "The gangs, the gangs… Oh right!" In a sudden burst of energy, he hopped to his feet and tapped a button on an overhead projector. A screen behind him came to life, and Endeavor could see six mugshots displayed on it.

"...We have detained six members of the Eight Precepts gang. They were left behind after sustaining critical injuries in a deal gone bad with the League of Villains, and when the police questioned them, they revealed some disturbing pieces of information: The first only confirms the fear that has sprung up from the incident at USJ: that the League of Villains is capable of granting additional quirks with no negative side-effects."

The room broke into an excited chatter, and Endeavor frowned. Villains were hard enough to deal with when they had one quirk. But with two? Or three? Or five?"

"Quiet down," commanded the President, and the heroes obeyed. "The prospect of fighting against villains with multiple quirks is terrifying, I know. That's why we plan on requiring that pro heroes work in groups. One man with two quirks is dangerous, to be sure, but a team of experienced professionals should be able to deal with him." She lowered her voice. "We still don't know how, exactly, the League has been able to accomplish this. After all, there has only been a single instance of a person inheriting a quirk artificially, and that was a special case…"

"Izuku Midoriya," guessed Nighteye, and the HPUC president nodded her head. A few other heroes glanced towards Endeavor. It was a closely-guarded secret, but all the highest-level pros had been briefed on _The Incident_ , as well as Izuku's unique situation.

"...Which leads us onto the second piece of information obtained from the captured yakuza: that they were all attacked by a ghost in their hospital beds that night."

Ryogoku scoffed. "Really?"

Mera nodded. "It would seem like it. The hospital was dark, so our cameras couldn't see much, but it looks like a white-clad person visited them in the middle of the night. And if that isn't strange enough, six people in that hospital ward had their wounds completely healed, while the gang members each gained a new injury. It's as if the injuries were transferred from the innocent patients to the guilty ones."

The room once more broke into excited conversation again. The heroes looked confused, but Hawks knew better.

 _Dammit, Izuku. I thought I told you to stay with Eri. At least nobody will suspect a fifteen year-old student…_

As if to confirm Hawk's thoughts, the HPUC president spoke up: "Now, while the _transfer_ of the patients' injures matches up with one of Izuku Midoriya's quirks, we don't believe the boy is responsible for this, considering he's a fifteen year-old civilian who lives on the other side of the city. Instead, we should consider the possibility that the League is in possession of a similar quirk…"

Hawks breathed a sigh of relief. Izuku was safe for now.

"...And in anticipation of their newfound power, we will assign a team of heroes to watch the League." Her eyes met Hawks' eyes briefly, for a second, and the message was clear. _Keep your cover secret._ If the League had a spy in the room, Hawks' cover could be blown if he mentioned his undercover work to the wrong person.

"...For now, we will continue our investigation into the yakuza's grab for power and their quirk-erasing bullets. Nighteye, your agency is in charge, of course. You will be aided by Fatgum, Ryogoku, and Rock Lock." The heroes in question nodded. "And you should allow Hawks to assist you. I've heard he has experience in dealing with the yakuza in the past."

Hawks shrugged. "Glad to be on board."

"Excellent," said the president. "On an unrelated note, the Hero Killer, Stain, seems to have moved to Hosu. Endeavor has been tracking him down…" The Number-One Hero nodded. "...And we ask that Igneum's hero agency should perform a sweep of the area. Will that be okay?"

"Of course," said Igneum.

"Good. And be wary of the Hero Killer. He has taken lives before. Additionally, there has been an alarming increase in usage of the drug Trigger…"

-]-[-

"I have pancakes for everyone!"

Sato strode into the Class 1-A common room, hefting two huge platters above his head. All activity in the room came to a halt as the students crowded around the burly man.

"Mmm, thanks Sato!" A chunk of a pancake seemed to disappear into thin air as Toru took a bite.

"I made sure to add extra chocolate chips!"

"They're great!" said Mina, face full of pankake. She threw her arms around the flustered boy, and he had to fight not to drop his trays.

Izuku stepped up to the chef-in-training. "Here, let me get those." He took the trays and set them down on the coffee table. "This is great, Sato. We'll have to make it up to you!"

"No, no. No need for that." The sugar hero shook his head. "I like to bake sweets so I can fuel my quirk! It's somewhat of a hobby of mine. Though, if you can bring me some flour, I can make more..." He shrugged Mina off his shoulders as Bakugou entered the room.

"I smell food," the boy grunted, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, Bakugou," she teased. "I was saving a hug just for you!"

The blond-haired boy didn't have time to react before he was wrapped in a tight, pink embrace. "Huh? Get off!"

Mina let go and pouted. "Poor Bakugou doesn't know how to hug a girl. And put a shirt on! Not everyone wants to see your impressively-large muscles."

The rest of the common room chuckled at the commotion, and Shoto walked in from the boys' hallway, fully dressed. His eyes lit up when he saw the platter of pancakes.

"Hmm, don't mind if I do," he said, taking one. He motioned towards Izuku and Bakugou. "Come, eat with me."

The trio found their way to a secluded couch and sat down.

"So," said Izuku. "Did you want to tell us something?"

"Yes," said Shoto. "It's about the Sports Festival."

Izuku nodded. This year's sports festival was coming up fast, and, while Izuku was well-prepared after sparring with his friends, he felt nervous. He'd be competing against his own classmates, and each of them was talented in their own right. As a class, they had repelled a villain invasion, after all. And that wasn't even taking Class 1-B into account. Their rival class was full of students with unknown powers, and Shoto even spoke of a student who performed just as well as he in the recommendation exams. _Inasa, was it?_ Either way, he wasn't looking forward to an encounter with that boy, especially since Izuku had lost against Shoto in their duel back in America.

"Anyway, remember the promise we made on the first day of training with my father?"

"Yeah," grunted Bakugou. "The three of us promised that we'd work as a team. What about it?"

"I want each of us to break that promise, at least for the duration of the Sports Festival."

Izuku leaned in. "Really?"

Shoto nodded. "Teamwork was useful during training, and against the Nomu, but the three of us would have an unfair advantage if we ganged up on the other individual competitors. Besides, I want to treat this like a competition, to see which of us will prevail over the other."

"I see," said Izuku. He had no qualms about working alone. "But are you sure you want to go up against me?"

"I beat you before," noted Shoto. "And sure, you have four more quirks than usual, but none of them alone are hero student-tier. We're more than a fair match for you."

"Okay, then," said Izuku, not taking Shoto's comments about his quirks to heart. "Until the Sports Festival is over, we'll see each other as opponents. May the best of us win."

Bakugou grinned. "The three of us are close in skill, but the best one is obviously me."

Shoto's eyes narrowed. "You wish."

"I'll prove it." He shoved a finger towards his chest. "Just wait for the Sports Festival."

"We'll see."

Both boys reclined in their seat, preferring to enjoy their pancakes over continuing their dead-end argument. After a minute of comfortable silence, Izuku spoke up:

"You know, I'm pretty excited for this competition."

"Me too," said Bakugou. "But I don't think anyone can be excited as Ochako is." He pointed to the girl, who was off in the corner, punching an invisible opponent. An intense fire burned in her eyes, and she would have looked scary if she wasn't wearing slippers and fluffy pajamas.

"...I wonder what's gotten into her?"

"Dunno," said Izuku. He would have to ask her about it later. "I'm also looking forward to meeting some of the Class 1-B students. I don't think I know any of their quirks…"

"Yeah," agreed Shoto. "I know Inasa's pumped up, too. He's the wind-quirk guy in Class 1-B that almost beat me in the Recommendations Exams." _Almost._ "He's nice enough, if not a little _too_ energetic. He'll be a fierce competitor, no doubt on par with the three of us."

 _Hmm,_ thought Izuku. _He sounds like a tough competitor. I'll need to get my act together if I want to beat the others._ "Hey, it's the weekend. Does anyone want to train for the Sports Festival with me?"

"No," said Shoto. "As of a few minutes ago, we're opponents, remember? You're on your own."

Izuku recoiled as Shoto stood up to get another pancake. _Oof. I've taken training with Shoto and Bakugou for granted. Maybe I'll ask Ochako later today…_

-]-[-

 _Knock, knock_.

Later that day, Ochako stood before the door to All Might's office, working out a knot in her shoulder. _Physical training was tough today, but I think after three hours I earned the rest of the day off._ She had been, and still was, pumping herself up for the Sports Festival. This was her chance to get recognized by the pros. With recognition from the pros, she could land herself a high-paying job in a prestigious hero agency right out of school and start paying off her parents' debt. A lot was riding on her performance, so she needed all the physical exercise she could get.

A voice boomed from inside: "OCHAKO, IS THAT YOU?"

"Um, yes, All Might. You wanted to eat lunch with me?"

"Of course! Of course! Come on in!"

Ochako pushed the door open to find the room full of smoke. She coughed.

"All Might, is that you?"

"Yes," came a much, much softer voice. All Might must have been trying out his strengthened form, for whatever reason. "Please, sit down, and help yourself to tea."

The smoke cleared and Ochako sat, facing her mentor. He cleared his throat.

"Ochako," he said. "I want to catch up with you. We never got the chance to talk after the USJ incident. How are you feeling, now that it's over?"

Ochako's face darkened when he mentioned the USJ. "It could have gone worse. I'm fine," _because I have Izuku to talk to._ "But I don't know about the others…"

All Might nodded. "Glad to hear you're okay. And how has your training with One for All gone?"

Ochako flinched at the sudden change of topic.

"Um, it's good, I guess. I still can't get to 20% without the risk of injuring myself, and I get nauseous when I use anything more than 5% when Zero Gravity is active."

He nodded again. "It's solid, but there's a lot of room for improvement. You'll need to keep up your training…" He sighed. "But enough of that. Tell me, how do you feel about the Sports Festival?"

With all the questions, this meeting felt to Ochako as more of an interrogation than an actual conversation. _All Might is actually pretty awkward when he takes off his proverbial mask. Or was he always awkward, and the world never noticed?_ Ochako shook the thoughts away.

"I'm very nervous, to be honest. You see, I want to make a good impression-"

"-Of course," All Might interjected. "After all, this is your biggest chance to prove yourself as the next Symbol of Peace!"

"Well, actually, I…" _was thinking more along the lines of securing a high-paying job..._

"-In my absence, what the world needs the most is for someone to tell them: 'I AM HERE.' And as the successor of One for All, that person is you."

Ochako gulped. Her already sore shoulders suddenly felt a lot heavier.

"...which is why you need to win this tournament."

She felt sick. _I'm not sure if I can do that... There's Izuku, Bakugou, and Shoto, and all of them are stronger than me. Argh! I can barely even use my new quirk, but I can't let All Might down. I can't let him regret choosing me as his successor…_

"...Ochako, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She got to her feet. "I need to go do something…" _I need to do some more physical training if I want to get better with One for All._ She could say goodbye to the rest of her day.

"Huh," grunted All Might as she left. _Did I say something wrong?_

-]-[-

The days passed by, and the tournament drew nearer. By day, the Class 1-A students studied with a bandaged Mr. Aizawa, and by night, they trained. Or, at least, the students with any semblance self-discipline did; the others just half-assed their exercises. But nobody seemed to be working as hard as Ochako, who seemed to spend all her free waking hours lifting weights and practicing with her quirk.

"I never knew you were such a gym rat," Mina teased her at lunch one day. "You're starting to make me feel inadequate…"

But Ochako just mumbled something about 'gains' and scarfed down her lunch so she would have time to stretch out after that morning's workout. After a few days, dark bags started to form under her eyes, and her classmates worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep. But she doggedly kept at her exercises and refused to talk with the others.

It wasn't until the night before the Festival that Izuku heard a knock on his door. It was 9:00, and he was just wrapping up one of Aizawa's homework assignments. When he opened it, he found himself face-to-face with a zombie.

"Oh, hey, Ochako. Sorry for the mess. What do you need?"

"I need... to talk with you."

She stepped into the room. As a rule, students were not allowed to go into the dormitories of the opposite gender, but it wasn't like there was anyone to enforce that rule. Besides, girls visited the boys' rooms all the time, like when Mina needed Bakugou's help with her homework, and when Momo needed Shoto's help with _her_ homework. The latter scenario seemed a little off to Izuku, considering Momo was by far the smartest in the class, but sometimes the class material just didn't make sense.

"What's wrong, Ochako? It looks like you need some sleep, badly-"

"-What would you do?" Her voice was higher than normal, and her eyes were unfocused. "What would you do... if you needed to get stronger, but you just couldn't?" She stepped towards him but tripped on his carpet, and they both tumbled onto the floor.

"Well, I'd get some sleep, for one." He was fighting off a blush: she was right on top of him! "It's clear you're exhausted, and do you _need_ to get stronger? You're already super powerful, as you are. Easily one of the strongest in the class-"

"What would Izuku do?" she mumbled into his shirt.

Izuku tried to push her off him, but she was half-asleep; she wouldn't move. "C'mon, we need to get you to your bed."

"Need to get stronger," she murmured. "Can't let All Might down…"

 _Huh? All Might?_ But before Izuku could ask, he realized: she was fast asleep. He couldn't get up without waking her, and she clearly needed the rest. I guess t _his is my life now..._

Soon, he was fast asleep as well.

-]-[-

"So," Izuku said the next morning as Ochako chugged down her fifth cup of coffee. "Are you feeling better?"

"Hardly, but I'll manage." She threw the cup away. "It will take more than some meager sleep-deprivation to keep me down." She smiled weakly, but her eyes weren't in it. They were walking towards the Sports Festival arena, having already changed into their PE uniforms. "Sorry about last night…"

Izuku chuckled. "Are you talking about the incoherent rambling, or the fact that you effectively kept me pinned for ten hours straight?"

Ochako's face went bright red, and she looked away. "Both, maybe." They entered the arena, and Izuku could recognize some of his classmates on the field.

"You're lucky you went to me for advice, and not that Mineta kid."

Ochako's face went pale at the thought.

"It's okay, trust me. We don't have to talk about All Might, or whatever it was you were talking about in your state of delirium."

Ochako smiled at a few of their classmates as they walked into the arena. The roar from the crowd was deafening, but they ignored it.

"Thanks, Izuku. Truth is, I've been neglecting myself by training so hard. I… have people really I don't want to disappoint. I'm just ashamed I keep on having to rely on you for emotional support."

Izuku's eyes locked onto hers. "Don't worry about that. We all have problems, and I… just deal with them differently." He flashed back to Eri's tortured abusers in the hospital ward. "And don't worry about disappointing anyone. Your classmates… No, _I_ know how hard you worked for this. You'll have me, no matter what, and you'll have the rest of the class, too! Doesn't that count for a lot?"

"I guess that does. Thanks Izuku!" She reached up, kissed him on the cheek, and then ran off into the crowd before he could do anything else.

"Ochako, wait!" he called, but she was gone. "Good luck…" _Damn that girl. Doesn't she know we're on live TV? Whatever. I just hope she doesn't fall asleep in the middle of this._

His thoughts were interrupted by Midnight's voice over the stadium's loudspeakers. The R-rated hero was wearing her usual provocative, probably-not-school-appropriate hero costume.

" **Now that we have introduced all the first-year classes, it's time for the Athlete's Oath! Our student representative has been singled out as one of the very best of us, having placed first in the Department of Heroics Entrance Exam. Give it up for the delightful young Izuku Midoriya!**

-]-[-

Endeavor sat in the stands, having taken the day off to watch his son and his friends compete. It was a rare instance in which he was a) in public, b) not covered in flames, and c) wearing civilian clothes. When he took his seat, nobody glanced twice in his direction, probably because nobody expected Endeavor to be wearing anything but his flaming costume and signature frown.

"Hey," said the woman next to him, "you look familiar…"

Endeavor smiled. "I have a generic face."

The woman burst out laughing, and he suddenly felt the urge to laugh along, but he fought it back. _What has come over me?_

"I'm Emi Fukudado," she explained, "but you might know me better as Ms. Joke." She was wearing her signature orange bandana and a gas mask covered in smiley faces, perhaps to reduce the effect of her laughing-gas quirk.

"Ah, a pro hero, then." _You really should have recognized me. Are you playing a game?_

"Don't you want an autograph?"

"Don't make me laugh. I'm here to watch my son and his friends, to see how well they'll do." He pointed down at Izuku, who was taking center. "See, I know that kid very well. Nice to see he has made a name for himself already."

Ms. Joke nodded. "I teach a hero course as well, and I'm here to scout out the competition, as well as to meet an old mummy."

Endeavor had no idea what 'mummy' she was talking about, but he shrugged it off and looked down at the center stage. Izuku was about to say something.

-]-[-

"Hey, birdie, look! It's Izuku!"

Eri was seated in front of the television in her safe house, and sure enough, she could clearly see her rescuer making his way to the center of an arena.

Hawks walked over to the television and stooped down. "Hey, that's right, Eri. Good eye! That's the UA Sports Festival, and Izuku is going to compete against other people his age."

"I want him to win!"

The winged hero smiled. "Izuku has certainly made an impression on you, huh? Depending on how he does, you might see him soon."

"Shh. I want to hear what he says…"

-]-[-

"Hey, boss!" shouted Rappa. "Do you want to watch this?"

He was sitting on the couch next to Tenagi, who had adopted some sort of a meditational pose. They, like the rest of the country, were watching the Sports Festival, live. Even the world's most dangerous criminals could enjoy some friendly competition between students.

"No, no." Overhaul was shuffling through a pile of census records. "I need to find the man with the glowing skin so I can get Eri back. Damn, this place is a mess."

"Whatever," said Rappa. "There's this kid, Izuku Midoriya. He thinks he's a big shot, huh? Delivering a speech to a stadium full of people? I could kick his ass, any day of the week."

-]-[-

Izuku stepped up to the podium. The day before, Midnight had approached him after her history class, so he had already decided what he was going to say. _But,_ he thought, _maybe I'll wing something._

"I promise," he said, and the microphone screeched. He took a step back. "I promise: I'm going to try my absolute hardest…"

He looked around at the other students, his heart pounding in his chest. "And I want _you_ guys to try your absolute hardest as well. Only the strongest of us will win, but," he made eye-contact with Ochako, "...if we give it our all, even if we lose, we won't have any regrets after this is done. Thank you."

The stadium broke into applause, and Izuku joined the rest of the students.

" **Thank you, Izuku,"** came Midnight's voice. " **Very inspiring. Now our first event is the Obstacle Race…"**

"Damn straight," said an orange-haired girl as Izuku passed. Itsuka Kendo. She was one of the few Class 1-B students he could recognize.

"That was a HOT speech," agreed a boy behind her.

 _Is that Inasa?_ Izuku nodded to the Class 1-B students before jogging over to the starting line for the Obstacle Race. His eyes met Ochako's.

"Good luck," he called. "Don't go easy on me."

"Of course," she answered. "And I want you do do the same."

" **And START!"**

-]-[-

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for Chapter 15! I know, it wasn't a really action-packed chapter compared to the others, but I'm setting things up for the next few arcs.**

 **And sorry about the longer wait than usual. Since school started, I've had less time to write, and my workload will only intensify as we get further into the year. On the bright side, compared to when I first started, I'm able to write these chapters much faster now that I have a decent amount of writing experience.**

 **Keep an eye out for Chapter 16! Next up: the Obstacle Race and the Cavalry Battle...**


End file.
